EXCHANGE 


THE  PROPHETS  IN 
THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY 


BY 

JOHN  GODFREY  HILL 

Professor  of  Religious  Education  in  the  University 
of  Southern  California 


INTRODUCTION   BY 

F.  M.  LARKIN 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1019,  by 
JOHN  GODFREY  HILL 


TO 
A  HOST  OF  DEVOTED  STUDENTS 

"Teaching  is  personal  propagation" 


473557 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 9 

FOREWORD 13 

I.  THE  PROPHETS  IN   RELATION  TO  OUR 

TWISTED  AGE 19 

II.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  INSPIRATION  26 

III.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  REVELATIONS  45 

IV.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  MEANING  ...  66 
V.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  AUTHORITY.  .  82 

t:  VI.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  PERSONALITY  101 
VII.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  WRITINGS  . . .   127 

\  VIII.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  IDEAS 145 

IX.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  RELIGION.  . .   161 

X.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  POLITICS 184 

•XI.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  PREDICTIONS.  201 
XII.  THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR  PERMANENCE.  221 


QUESTIONS 

CHAPTER 

Why  Does  the  Changing  Order  Require  a  Re- 
valuation of  Faith? I 

In  What  Sense  is  Prophecy  the  Word  of  God?       II 

What  Conception  of  Revelation  Best  Fits  the 

New  World? Ill 

How  May  Prophecy  be  Best  Interpreted?. ...      IV 

How  May  We  Know  What  Correctly  Ex- 
presses God's  Mind? V 

What  Fitted  the  Prophets  to  Speak  the  Mind 

of  God? VI 

What  is  the  Nature  of  the  Written  Record 

Which  We  Treat  as  Binding? VII 

What  Ideas  are  Elemental  in  Life  and  What 

Makes  Them  So? VIII 

What  Makes  a  Religion  Good? IX 

What  Place  has  Religion  in  Politics? X 

In  What    Sense  did    the    Prophets    Reveal 

Future  Events? XI 

Wherein    Consists    the    Abiding    Value    of 

Prophecy? XII 


INTRODUCTION 

book  is  timely  and  of  the  greatest 
importance  in  our  modern  life.  Never  since 
the  advent  of  Christ  has  it  been  more  im- 
portant to  understand  the  permanent  teach- 
ings of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  who  spoke  not 
only  for  their  own  time  but  for  all  time. 
They  deal  with  fundamental  and  universal 
truth  in  relation  to  individual  and  national 
conduct. 

No  thoughtful  person  can  overlook  the 
fact  that  the  civilization  of  the  world  is  pass- 
ing through  one  of  the  most  appalling  crises 
in  all  history.  The  boom  of  the  first  cannon 
in  the  great  European  war  was  the  an- 
nouncement of  the  beginning  of  a  new  age. 
Suddenly  and  swiftly  has  history  been  made. 
With  the  ceasing  of  the  war  the  transition 
has  been  made.  The  world  never  again  will 
be  what  it  was  before  the  war. 

Much  depends  upon  the  attitude  the 
world  governments  are  to  take  upon  funda- 
mental principles  of  human  nature  when 

9 


10  INTRODUCTION 

reconstruction  is  made.  In  no  way  can  we 
understand  better  what  the  great  God  has 
been  trying  to  teach  man  in  all  the  past  and 
in  the  present  than  by  a  proper  understand- 
ing of  the  permanency  of  the  ancient  He- 
brew prophets.  A  misunderstanding  of 
their  messages  will  result  disastrously  to  the 
church  and  the  world. 

Professor  Hill  has  given  much  attention 
to  this  line  of  study,  and  the  church  will  be 
grateful  to  him  for  the  publication  of  these 
lectures  in  permanent  form.  For  many 
years  he  has  been  coming  in  contact  with 
the  mature  minds  in  the  University  of 
Southern  California,  and  from  personal 
testimony,  which  has  come  to  the  writer, 
we  know  that  he  has  been  exceptionally  suc- 
cessful in  leading  young  people  out  of  their 
intellectual  doubts  into  a  clear,  bright,  ear- 
nest Christian  faith.  The  Prophets  in  the 
Light  of  To-day  has  been  written  in  touch 
with  the  vital  issues  of  the  classroom  which 
have  given  him  an  exceptional  insight  into 
what  people  of  to-day  want  to  know  about 
the  Hebrew  prophets  in  their  relation  to 
the  development  of  modern  civilization. 


INTRODUCTION  11 

When  pastor  of  University  Church  I 
found  young  people  who  were  devout  Chris- 
tians having  great  difficulty  in  adjusting 
their  faith  to  their  intellectual  light  and 
growth.  They  were  attempting  to  think 
their  religion  in  the  symbolism  of  their  child- 
hood, which  was  taught  to  them  in  the  Sun- 
day school,  and  were  unable  to  adjust  it  to 
their  more  mature  intellectual  college  life. 
A  great  deal  of  skepticism  has  thus  resulted 
from  a  failure  to  teach  our  young  people  to 
think  properly  about  God  and  religion.  A 
large  number  of  the  skeptics  who  are  com- 
ing from  our  State  universities  are  the  re- 
sult of  being  taught  to  think  about  material 
things  in  a  modern  way,  while  little  is  done 
to  teach  them  as  a  man  ought  to  think  about 
spiritual  things.  Professor  Hill's  success- 
ful experience  in  helping  this  class  of  young 
men  to  revalue  their  faith  makes  his  book 
especially  welcome  to  the  larger  public. 

F.  M.  LABKIN. 


FOREWORD 

THE  purpose  of  this  little  book  is  to  at- 
tract busy  people  to  the  grandeur  of  the 
Hebrew  prophets.  Especially  persons  dis- 
tressed with  doubts  or  yearning  to  know  the 
modern  views  on  religious  values  may  re- 
ceive help.  It  is  also  the  purpose  to  help 
correct,  without  needless  offense,  prevalent 
unscholarly  misuse  of  prophecy.  It  is  hoped 
that  these  chapters  may  help  to  bring  the 
needlessly  conservative  student  into  a  more 
hospitable  attitude  toward  the  modern  reli- 
gious trend  of  thought  without  losing  any 
of  his  fervor.  There  is  need  of  a  careful 
reappraisement  of  spiritual  values  in  the 
light  of  to-day.  In  the  present  reconstruc- 
tion period  the  spirit  and  ideas  of  the 
prophets  are  especially  timely.  The  better 
day  will  be  hastened  by  placing  a  saner  and 
higher  value  upon  spiritual  realities. 

David  Grayson's  reflection  about  his 
farmer  friend,  Horace,  and  himself,  that 
"we  have  been  the  best  of  friends  in  the 

13 


14  FOREWORD 

way  of  whiffle-trees,  butter  tubs,  and  pig 
killings,  but  never  once  looked  up  together 
at  the  sky,"  may  serve  as  a  blanket  confes- 
sion for  our  workaday-world.  We  are 
caught  in  the  treadmill  of  "getting  on,"  and 
are  damaging  body  and  damning  soul  in 
the  forced  scramble  for  a  livelihood.  The 
most  smothering  feature  of  modern  lif e  is  its 
absorbing  practicality.  Grayson's  further 
confession  that  "throughout  many  feverish 
years  I  did  not  work,  I  merely  produced," 
fairly  labels  our  truck-driven  age.  One 
hoped-for  result  of  the  present  studies  of 
the  prophets  is  that  these  preoccupied  neigh- 
bors of  ours  may  learn  to  "look  up  together 
at  the  sky"  and  "trust  a  little  in  God." 

The  prophets  were  sky-gazers  and  would 
teach  us  moderns  to  look  starward.  Amaz- 
ing material  achievements  have  outrun  the 
more  meager  spiritual  results.  Success  has 
formed  a  kind  of  conspiracy  against  the 
spiritual  life.  The  world  crisis,  however, 
has  cleared  the  way  for  a  fresh  approach  to 
the  unseen  realities.  The  guidance  of  the 
prophets  is,  therefore,  timely. 

The  prophetic  material  has  been  selected 


FOREWORD  15 

because  it  records  the  highest  expression  of 
religion,  and  also  because  the  present  crisis 
has  stimulated  a  fresh  interest  in  prophetic 
predictions,  believed  by  many  to  find  their 
fulfillment  in  the  present  world  movement. 
Unless  a  common-sense  view  be  taken  of 
prophetic  utterances  many  good  people  will 
be  misled  and  sadly  disappointed  should  the 
"signs"  fail  of  fulfillment,  as  they  have  done 
so  often  before. 

The  attempt  is  made  to  treat  in  a  living, 
practical  way  those  problems  of  religion 
which  are  of  practical  interest  and  vital  con- 
cern to  honest  seekers  after  "a  working 
faith."  The  viewpoint  taken,  therefore,  is 
that  which  is  commonly  held  by  progressive 
Christian  leaders  of  the  day.  By  common 
agreement  these  leaders  interpret  Chris- 
tianity in  harmony  with  scientific,  psycho- 
logical, and  sociological  truthfulness.  This 
viewpoint  is  what  may  be  termed  progres- 
sive orthodoxy. 

In  a  way  this  book  is  the  accumulated 
result  of  years  of  effort  to  make  a  working 
faith  possible  where  outworn  conceptions 
have  ceased  to  carry  intellectual  respect. 


16  FOREWORD 

Hence,  only  topics  of  living  interest  make 
up  the  chapters  that  follow.  They  have  re- 
ceived such  treatment  as  has  proved  most 
helpful  to  pastors  and  people,  teachers  and 
students. 

It  has  seemed  to  the  writer  that  the  Bible 
material  needs  to  be  popularized  and 
modernized  in  order  that  it  may  play  the 
guiding  and  controlling  role  which  it  de- 
serves in  modern  life.  To  effect  this  end, 
several  things  have  been  attempted:  first, 
to  give  only  positive  and  needful  results  of 
modern  biblical  scholarship ;  second,  to  pre- 
serve a  passionate  spiritual  tone;  third,  to 
present  progressive  ideas  in  plain  modern 
speech;  fourth,  to  treat  questions  involved 
in  a  sane,  brief,  and  honest  manner.  The 
reader  will  be  the  judge  in  that  matter. 

The  author  gratefully  acknowledges  help 
received  from  many  friends  and  stimulating 
books.  It  is  not  possible  to  cite  the  sources 
of  ideas  and  suggestions  used  which  have 
been  accumulated  during  many  years  of 
study  and  teaching.  Materials  of  public 
ownership  have  been  worked  over  into  a 
new,  and  let  us  hope,  fresh  setting.  The 


FOREWORD  17 

author  has  tried  to  strike  a  happy  medium 
between  "cold  critical  scholarship"  on  the 
one  hand,  and  "inaccurate  devotional  litera- 
ture" on  the  other  hand.  The  writer  is  con- 
vinced that  a  fervid  spirit  and  a  fair  ac- 
curacy joined  together  will  aid  to  make  the 
Bible  ideal  winsome.  If  this  book  shall 
further  that  end,  the  author  will  be  content. 

J.  G.  H. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    PROPHETS    IN    RELATION 
TO  OUR  TWISTED  AGE 

WHAT? 

THE  most  momentous  decision  in  history 
is  now  in  the  balance.  All  former  world 
molds  lie  broken,  and  the  social  fragments 
must  now  be  recast.  Who  is  to  take  the 
contract?  This  is  a  fair  and  fearful  chal- 
lenge to  trained  Christian  men  and  women. 
Since  the  lines  in  Picardy  and  Flanders 
have  won  the  war,  a  new  world  is  in  the 
making.  The  period  of  reconstruction  is, 
therefore,  a  momentous  hour  for  the  Chris- 
tian Church.  Her  finest  teachers  and 
preachers,  scholars  and  statesmen,  laymen 
and  laborers,  must  seize  this  world  moment 
for  Christ. 

The  awful  conflict  which  recently  raged 
on  the  trenched  fields  of  Europe  presents  a 
world  of  agonizing  problems.  The  troubled 
waters  run  far  deeper  than  the  issue  between 

19 


20  THE  PROPHETS 

opposing  political  ideals.  "The  worth  of 
the  whole  structure  of  modern  civilization 
is  being  put  to  the  test."  Everything  is 
being  subjected  to  revaluation.  In  the 
melting-pot  of  the  world's  crisis  cherished 
customs,  time-honored  institutions,  and 
long-established  ideals  are  being  refined  by 
the  fires  of  the  great  conflict. 

WHITHER? 

We  are  on  our  way  to  a  new  humanity 
with  different  racial  values  and  ideals.  This 
fact  is  being  anticipated  by  the  titles  of  new 
books.  Nicholas  Murray  Butler  calls  it 
The  World  in  Ferment;  Harry  Emerson 
Fosdick,  The  Challenge  of  the  Present 
Crisis;  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward,  Towards  the 
Goal;  and  Butler  in  another  of  his  books, 
The  International  Mind.  In  the  face  of 
this  crisis,  Adams  Brown  might  well  ask 
in  the  title  of  his  virile  volume,  "Is  Chris- 
tianity Practicable?"  The  daring  John 
Galsworthy  takes  up  the  new  challenge  in 
his  recent  novel  Beyond,  and  permits  young, 
beautiful  "Gyp"  to  pass  "beyond"  the 
bounds  of  old  settled  conventions.  This 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    21 

daring  and  dramatic  story  seems  to  fling 
the  new  departures  in  our  faces  by  asking, 
"Was  she  justified  in  taking  the  step?"  In 
that  question  and  in  that  novel  may  be  seen 
the  modern  man's  effort  to  break  with  the 
conservative  Past  and  to  face  up  to  a  radical 
Future.  But  there  are  titles  that  sound  a 
note  of  warning,  such  as  Katherine  Holland 
Brown's  The  Wages  of  Honor,  for  we  are 
in  some  danger  of  "Running  Free,"  as 
James  B.  Connolly  puts  it  in  his  humorous 
book  of  racy  sea  stories.  Henry  van  Dyke 
seems  positively  alarmed  lest  the  "Blond 
Beast"  be  "enthroned  in  the  place  of  God." 
We  must  make  certain  that  the  new  order 
takes  on  Christ  or  we  shall  be  undone. 

Providentially,  the  Christian  Church  is 
being  urged  forward  by  the  new  struggle  it 
is  forced  to  wage  to  meet  the  changing  order 
of  society.  It  must  be  evident  to  all  that 
great  changes  are  in  progress  both  within 
and  without  the  Christian  Church.  In  every 
branch  of  the  church  we  have  heard  for  a 
generation  much  about  the  "higher"  and  the 
"lower  critics,"  the  "liberals"  and  the  "con- 
servatives," the  "heterodox"  and  the  "ortho- 


22  THE  PROPHETS 

dox."  The  way  of  science  is  gaining  more 
respect.  The  newer  secular  education  is 
taking  a  firmer  grip  on  our  youth.  Social 
improvement  and  psychological  tests  are 
coming  forward  with  new  aids  to  the  gospel 
of  human  betterment. 

The  significance  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  for  the  life  of  our  age  is  being  both 
broadened  and  intensified.  A  new  interpre- 
tation of  the  gospel  is  imperative,  and  a 
finer  life  of  the  saint  is  mandatory,  if  Chris- 
tianity is  to  exercise  the  controlling  influence 
in  the  new  world. 

Abner  Daniel's  observation  about  the 
Tinsleys  in  The  New  Clarion  puts  the  mat- 
ter well:  "Me'n5  her  git  along  all  right,  but 
I  can't  stomach  that  sanctimonious  husband 
o'  her'n.  He's  so  ready  fer  the  next  life 
that  he's  out  o'  joint  in  this  un,  an'  makes 
everybody  else  uncomfortable." 

How? 

That  new  order  will  not  be  ushered  in  in 
the  spectacular  manner  of  a  cloud-burst.  It 
is  not  to  be  a  free  gift  from  the  skies,  but 
a  gritty  grind  from  the  ground.  Only  as 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    23 

God  works  in  us  and  through  us  here  and 
now,  will  we  be  able  to  bring  about  his  pur- 
pose for  a  better  world  and  a  nobler  society. 
A  new  sense  of  the  need  of  world  improve- 
ment, a  new  sympathy  with  all  movements 
which  strive  for  a  better  society,  a  clearer 
grasp  of  practical  methods  which  will  secure 
good  results  are  God's  messengers  to  urge 
us  on  to  more  strenuous  endeavor.  While 
individual  rectitude  must  not  slacken,  in- 
ternational ethics  must  also  come.  No  mere 
local  and  fitful,  conventional  and  formal 
application  of  the  gospel  will  save  the  world 
and  restore  the  church  to  its  rightful  place 
in  society.  Nothing  short  of  a  fresh  inter- 
pretation of  the  gospel,  a  simpler  view  of 
faith,  a  clearer  understanding  of  the  Chris- 
tian ideal,  a  truer  exhibition  of  Christian 
conduct,  and  a  broader  application  of  the 
Christian  program  to  the  world's  problems 
will  satisfy  the  emerging  needs  of  a  world 
writhing  in  the  birth-pangs  of  a  new  era. 

"The  immensity  of  the  war,"  writes  Ralph 
Barton  Perry,  "lies  not  only  in  its  area  and 
volume,  but  in  the  profoundness  and  com- 
plexity of  its  issues.  The  outcome  is  going 


24  THE  PROPHETS 

to  determine  not  only  what  nation  shall 
survive,  but  what  institutions  and  ideas  shall 
survive.  It  is  not  merely  a  question  of  who 
shall  prove  strongest,  but  of  what  form  of 
life  shall  prove  strongest." 

WHEN? 

The  massive  truths  of  the  prophets,  re- 
iterated by  Jesus  with  spiritual  clearness, 
need  now  to  be  reaffirmed  and  centrally 
fixed  in  the  life  of  society.  Their  passionate 
appeals  to  practical  justice,  downright  hon- 
esty, and  social  equality,  to  reverence  the 
one  and  holy  God,  to  recognize  his  purpose 
in  history,  and  to  establish  the  divine  king- 
dom of  good  on  earth,  are  at  this  hour  the 
crying  needs  of  the  bleeding  world.  From 
the  mouths  of  our  ministers  the  prophets 
speak  across  the  centuries  to  the  men  on  our 
streets.  For  it  is  given  to  the  prophet  class 
that  lives  on  the  divine  side  of  life  to  keep 
alive  the  elemental  moral  sense  of  mankind. 
Never  were  the  sermons  of  the  prophets 
more  timely  than  now,  for  they  deal  with 
the  ever-recurring  moral,  social,  and  polit- 
ical problems  of  society.  Modern  social  and 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    25 

political  prophets  catch  unfailing  inspira- 
tion from  these  voices  of  the  past  with  which 
to  shed  fresh  light  on  our  twisted  age,  and 
thus  gain  a  new  spiritual  ascendency. 

May  the  Christian  leaders,  like  the 
prophets  of  old,  keep  the  divine  vision  clear, 
the  human  spirit  steady,  the  well-springs  of 
sympathy  flowing,  the  lamp  of  truth  burn- 
ing, and  the  social  atmosphere  sweet,  lest 
the  world's  Gethsemane  end  in  a  trenched 
grave  without  a  resurrection. 


26  THE  PROPHETS 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
INSPIRATION 

HAUNTED  as  we  are  to-day  by  scientific 
ghosts,  it  is  impossible  to  read  the  Bible 
thoughtfully  without  being  taunted  by  the 
questions:  In  what  sense  is  the  Bible  the 
veritable  Word  of  God?  How  can  the  im- 
perfect and  finite  speak  the  mind  of  the  Per- 
fect and  Infinite?  If  human  errors  have 
crept  into  the  divine  record,  how  may  we 
know  the  true  from  the  false?  These  are 
practical  questions  which  dog  the  footstseps 
of  the  modern  man's  religious  wanderings. 
To  the  thoughtful,  earnest,  honest  soul  these 
mental  ghosts  must  be  met  and  slain  or  his 
Bible  is  for  him  a  haunted  book,  wherein 
dismaying  surprises  may  appear  at  any 
turn.  That  the  God  of  life  and  all  things 
has  spoken  in  the  Bible,  and  through  it  yet 
speaks  to  the  human  heart,  no  one  can  well 
doubt,  and  few  indeed  do  doubt  it.  The 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    27 

verdict  of  human  experience  for  centuries 
has  been  that  the  Bible  reveals  adequately 
God's  will  and  way  for  man.  Sir  Walter 
Scott,  on  his  deathbed,  is  reported  to  have 
said,  pointing  to  his  library,  "Hand  me  the 
Book."  When  asked,  "What  book?"  he  re- 
plied, "There  is  but  one  book,  the  Book!" 
Yet  the  very  greatness  of  the  book  raises  for 
us  more  keenly  the  questions  above,  for  any 
apparent  flaw  in  an  otherwise  perfect  work 
is  the  more  noticeable  and  disturbing. 
Hence  we  are  the  more  pained  and  puzzled 
at  finding  what  appear  to  be  imperfect 
statements  therein. 

These  problems,  however,  are  not  to  be 
settled  by  off-hand  declarations  or  diction- 
ary definitions,  but  by  candid  consideration. 
The  son  of  a  minister  told  his  father  that  the 
dictionary  defined  "collect"  and  "congre- 
gate" to  mean  the  same  thing.  "Perhaps 
they  do,  my  son,"  said  the  venerable  clergy- 
man, "but  there  is  a  vast  difference  between 
a  congregation  and  a  collection."  Likewise 
there  may  be  a  vast  difference  between  the 
facts  and  dogmas  of  inspiration  and  revela- 
tion. Inspiration  is  necessary  to  revelation. 


28  THE  PROPHETS 

Revelation  is,  of  course,  the  result  of  in- 
spiration. Man  is  the  means;  God  is  the 
source;  inspiration  is  the  spur;  revelation  is 
the  content;  and  the  Bible  is  the  record. 
Revelation  is  continued  and  varied  as  the 
inspiration  fluctuates  in  the  subject. 
Flower,  fowl,  and  folk  are  all  so  many  un- 
like forms  of  God's  handiwork.  That  is  to 
say,  our  psychic  nature  is  fashioned  to 
search  after  God  as  the  bee  hunts  for  honey. 
In  the  normal  craving  of  our  souls  we  find 
the  warrant  for  religion.  This  craving  God 
satisfies  with  his  Spirit  as  he  does  flowers 
with  sunshine.  The  Bible  directs  us  to  the 
divine  store  where  satisfaction  for  the  soul 
is  to  be  found. 

MODERN  THEORIES  OF  PROPHETIC  INSPIRA- 
TION 

How,  then,  shall  we  understand  prophetic 
inspiration?  There  is,  I  think,  no  consider- 
able disposition  at  the  present  to  doubt  the 
vital  fact  of  human  inspiration  and  conse- 
quent divine  revelation.  Devout  students 
of  the  Word  merely  differ  as  to  manner, 
form,  and  condition  under  which  inspiration 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY"    29 

takes  place.     These  views  are  commonly 
held: 

1.  That  God  immediately  and  unerringly 
revealed  all  things  to  holy  men  of  old,  dif- 
ferently from  anything  which  occurs  to-day. 

2.  That  it  is  all  the  product  of  human 
development,   essentially   the   same   as    all 
other  development  of  nature. 

3.  That  the  method  of  divine  revelation 
has  been  an  historic  process  of  divine  ac- 
commodation to  human  limitations.     God, 
through  his  indwelling  Spirit,  lifted  man 
into  higher  and  newer  meanings  by  way  of 
old  customs,  symbols,  institutions,  impart- 
ing to  them,  and  through  them,  nobler  ideas 
from  age  to  age.    Even  Saint  Paul  found 
it  necessary  to  say,  "For  now  we  see  through 
a  glass,  darkly;  but  then  face  to  face"  (1 
Cor.  13.   12). 

Whichever  of  these  theories  be  the  near- 
est correct  may  not  be  demonstrated.  It 
seems,  however,  that  the  third  one  men- 
tioned fits  best  into  our  time,  and  holds 
several  advantages  over  the  others  for  our 
modern  mode  of  thought.  Our  conquest  of 
nature  has  given  us  a  new  grip  on  the  mate- 


30  THE  PROPHETS 

rial  world,  and  our  scientific  method  of 
thought  has  given  us  a  new  interpretation 
of  the  world.  More  of  order  and  law  has 
made  less  of  miracle  and  caprice,  as  the 
modern  man  looks  at  it.  Explanations  of 
inspiration  must  not  do  violence  to  this 
respect  for  nature  on  the  one  hand,  nor  the 
longing  for  spiritual  realities  in  men's  lives 
on  the  other  hand.  The  last  theory  respects 
both;  while  the  other  two  choose  one  and 
exclude  the  other. 

MAN'S  PLACE  IN  THE  PROCESS  OF  INSPIRA- 
TION 

The  third  theory  mentioned  in  no  way 
belittles  God  and  his  self -manifestation  in 
the  world.  Special  revelation  is  not  denied 
by  being  accommodated  to  human  conditions 
as  the  Bible  shows  them  to  have  existed. 

This  way  of  looking  at  it  gives  man  an 
active  place  in  divine  revelation.  No  vio- 
lence is  done  to  human  nature  as  we  know 
it.  No  issue  is  forced  between  views  of 
science  and  religion.  It  finds  modern  psy- 
chology an  ally  and  friend.  William  James, 
in  this  connection,  speaks  of  the  "psycho- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    31 

pathic  level  of  sudden  perception  or  convic- 
tion of  new  truth  .  .  .  the  unseen  region  in 
question  .  .  .  produces  effects  in  this  world. 
God  is  real  since  he  produces  real  effects."1 

EARTHLY  MATERIALS  IN  DIVINE  FORMS 

It  gives  meaning  to  Bible  history  as 
showing  the  gradual  growth  of  revelation 
in  accord  with  scriptural  facts.  It  shows 
the  heritage  of  the  past  to  have  contributed 
to  the  making  of  the  present.  The  events 
of  the  present  were  fashioned  into  new  prod- 
ucts in  the  hot  crucible  of  prophetic  experi- 
ence. From  his  heated  soul  the  sparks  flew 
in  forms  of  hope  and  fear,  doubt  and  cer-j 
tainty,  joy  and  sorrow,  success  and  failure 
But  in  the  ordeal  the  prophet  beheld  the 
form  of  One  invisible.  On  the  one  hand  the 
prophet  followed  his  religious  intuitions;  on 
the  other  hand  he  seized  the  earthly  material 
at  his  feet  to  transmit  the  heavenly  grace. 
The  man  of  God  lifted  into  new  meaning 
old  symbols,  put  to  sacred  uses  secular  ob- 
jects, and  filled  heathen  words  with  holy 

1  William  James,  The    Varieties  of   Religious  Experience, 
pp.  516,  517. 


32  THE  PROPHETS 

contents.  Old  customs,  old  institutions,  old 
phrases  were  invested  with  new  meanings  in 
the  wake  of  wider  experiences  in  the  light 
of  God.  Thus  earthly  materials  are  often 
molded  into  the  divine  forms. 

In  the  mouths  of  the  prophets  heathen 
words  acquired  holy  uses.  Where  once  they 
carried  low,  even  base  contents,  taken  up 
into  Hebrew  usage  they  are  filled  with  lofty 
meaning.  Note,  for  instance,  the  prophetic 
use  of  the  word  Qadosh,  "holy"  (Isa.  6), 
applied  to  Jehovah.  The  three  meanings 
most  often  attached  to  this  word  in  its  vari- 
ous forms  are:  (1)  in  reference  to  holy 
things  (a  new  relation) ;  (2)  the  Holy  One 
(separate  from  all  else) ;  the  Transcendent 
One;  (3)  holy  persons  (as  priests  belonging 
to  God  as  his  peculiar  property).  Since 
Jehovah  is  holy,  all  that  is  used  for  or  by 
him  must  be  worthy  of  him.  Hence  only  a 
clean,  sound,  perfect,  unblemished  vessel, 
thing,  or  person  is  fit  for  divine  use.  So 
that  not  only  Jehovah  is  Qadosh,  that  is, 
clean,  whole,  separate  from  all  that  partakes 
of  evil,  but  all  persons  in  his  service  must 
be  clean  and  sound. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    33 

Then  we  find  Qadash,  "to  be  dedicated"; 
Qodesth,  "to  be  hallowed";  and  Qadosh, 
"saintly."  Now,  Qadash  was  an  old  Semitic 
word  which  meant  in  heathen  circles  "to 
withdraw,"  "to  set  apart."  On  the  one 
hand  a  thing  may  be  forbidden  because  it 
was  unclean  and,  therefore,  untouchable; 
or,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  too  sacred, 
too  clean  to  be  defiled  by  common  hands. 
Thus,  the  same  word  may  and  did  carry 
opposite  meanings.  Forms  of  this  word  ap- 
pear among  the  Semitic  peoples  with  varied 
meanings.  Among  the  Assyrians  Qadasu 
meant  "to  cleanse,"  and  a  thing  that  was 
Qadistu  was  consecrated  by  purification. 

An  exact  parallel  is  found  in  2  Chronicles 
29.  19  and  30.  17,  where  the  word  is  used 
in  this  sense  concerning  temple  vessels  and 
concerning  the  people  at  the  time  of  the 
passover.  Qadesh  was  a  word  used  by  the 
corrupt  Canaanites  to  designate  young 
women  set  apart  for  immoral  purposes 
at  the  sacred  shrines — temple  prostitutes, 
always  closely  associated  with  nature  reli- 
gions. When  a  Hebrew  writer  speaks  of 
the  immoral  women  of  Canaanite  shrines, 


34  THE  PROPHETS 

he  will  not  use  Qadesh,  but  will  use  Zonah 
instead.  Thus,  a  heathen  term,  used  in  the 
lowest  way,  was  lifted  to  the  highest  and 
purest  meaning  by  the  Hebrew  sacred 
writers,  and  even  given  a  place  in  the 
prophetic  doctrines  of  the  "Holy  God." 
How  the  meaning  of  the  term  has  been 
transformed  by  dropping  the  low  heathen 
contents ! 

God's  self -revelation,  accommodating  it- 
self to  human  conditions,  working  through 
prophet  and  the  very  growth  of  a  language, 
gained  this  splendid  result.  The  refining 
Hebrew  fire  passed  over  many  heathen 
words,  signs,  and  institutions,  burning  out 
the  dross  and  leaving  naught  but  gold. 

The  same  holds  true  of  the  Sabbath. 
Other  Semites  had  sacred  days,  but  the  He- 
brews gave  to  their  Sabbath  a  new  and  dis- 
tinct character.  The  root  Sabbath  in  He- 
brew, as  the  Arab  Sdbata,  means  "to  cut 
off"  or  "cease  from" — hence,  to  quit  work. 

God's  revelation  of  his  dwelling  place  is 
especially  indicative  of  his  accommodation 
to  human  progress.  Sacred  places,  where 
gods  were  supposed  to  resort  and  where 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    35 

men  might  meet  them,  were  common  among 
all  nations.  Many  sacred  spots  were  long 
recognized  by  the  Hebrews,  Bethel,  She- 
chem,  Hebron,  Shiloh,  Carmel,  etc.  At 
length,  Jerusalem  was  looked  upon  as  Je- 
hovah's earthly  sanctuary.  All  worship 
centralized  there.  Nay  more,  within  the 
temple,  in  the  very  Holy  of  holies  only, 
Jehovah  was  to  be  found.  Then  broke  the 
light,  the  most  wonderful  revelation  of  all, 
prophet  and  Jesus  found  God's  dwelling 
place  within  the  human  heart.  When  man 
could  understand,  God  could  reveal — new 
meaning  in  old  words. 

Similarly,  circumcision,  tithe,  covenant- 
making,  sacrificial  system,  all  took  on  higher 
meanings  as  men  entered  into  the  richer 
and  deeper  God-experiences.  The  divine 
self-revelation  passed  "from  glory  unto 
glory"  in  the  dawning  religious  conscious- 
ness of  mankind. 

FAITH  AND  REASON  IN  INSPIRATION 

The  third  theory  of  inspiration  harmon- 
izes more  readily  with  faith  and  reason,  ex- 
perience and  education,  culture  and  con- 


36  THE  PROPHETS 

science.  How  often  the  two  extremes  are 
witnessed! — those  who  grope  their  way  by 
the  glimmer  of  reason  on  the  one  hand,  and 
those  who  rely  on  the  spark  of  intuition  on 
the  other  hand.  Neither  alone  is  complete. 
Reason  by  itself  sooner  or  later  runs  into 
a  stone  wall,  and  faith  alone  into  the  fog. 
They  must  not  be  separated,  for  they  sup- 
port each  other  in  the  guidance  of  life.  One 
is  regulative,  the  other  is  rousing. 

Modern  science  has  pierced  the  stone  wall, 
and  given  reason  a  view  of  faith  by  using 
the  lens  of  intuition.  "There  are  things," 
says  Bergson,  "that  intelligence  alone  is  able 
to  seek,  but  which,  by  itself,  it  will  never 
find.  These  things  instinct  alone  could  find, 
but  it  will  never  seek  them."1  Modern  the- 
ology, on  the  other  hand,  is  piercing  the  fog 
and  giving  intuition  a  better  use  of  reason. 
So  that  behind  wall  and  fog  we  may  now 
view  a  new  realm  of  reality  which  experience 
enjoys  even  when  reason  is  puzzled  and 
faith  is  misty.  Is  it  not  this  newly  discov- 
ered universe  of  spiritual  reality  into  which 
William  James,  George  B.  Cutten,  E.  S. 

1  Henri  Bergson.  Creative  Evolution,  p.  151. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    37 

Ames,  I.  King,  J.  H.  Leuba,  H.  C.  Mc- 
Comas,  J.  B.  Pratt,  E.  D.  Starbuck,  G. 
Stevens,  George  A.  Coe,  and  G.  M.  Strat- 
ton,  in  their  psychological  treatises  of  reli- 
gion, conduct  us  in  a  new,  fresh,  and  friendly 
fashion?  Their  general  standpoint,  more- 
over, seems  to  be  that  "the  soul  is  open  to 
invasion  from  a  spiritual  universe  by  which 
it  is  surrounded,  and  that  the  impressions 
which  it  receives  from  that  source  are  as 
convincing  to  those  who  have  them  as  any 
direct,  sensible  experience  can  be."2  As 
Emerson  would  say,  "All  minds  open  into 
the  Infinite  mind."  It  was  a  fine  saying  of 
Professor  James,  scientifically  cautious  as 
he  was,  when  he  wrote:  "We  and  God  have 
business  with  each  other;  and  in  opening 
ourselves  to  his  influence  our  deepest  destiny 
is  fulfilled."3 

PRIMACY  OF  EXPERIENCE  IN  INSPIRATION 

First  of  all,  in  dealing  with  human  limita- 
tions we  need  to  remind  ourselves  that  in- 


2  J.  M.  Campbell,  Paul  the  Mystic,  p.  143. 
8  William  James,  The  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,  p. 
517. 


38  THE  PROPHETS 

spiration  is  life  at  flood-tide,  and  revelation 
is  lofty  experience — experience  with  the 
Highest.  Life  does  not  begin  with  logic, 
but  with  legs.  We  do  not  first  have  a  theory 
of  life  and  then  follow  it.  We  begin  to  act 
before  we  think.  Thinking  is  hard  work, 
and  very  few  people  endure  the  strain.  The 
personal  effort  is  first.  We  are  dowered 
with  certain  instincts  and  tendencies  which 
push  us  on  and  on.  There  is  a  push  in  the 
mold  that  shoves  us  out  from  the  shores  of 
eternity.  Part  of  that  urge  is  the  spiritual 
reach  which  causes  us  to  crane  our  necks 
for  the  starry  blue  and  aspire  for  the 
heavenly  good.  We  are  dowered  with 
eternity  by  the  Eternal.  Faith  is  a  personal 
trust  which  instinctively  makes  us  commit 
our  life  to  the  unseen.  While  we  cannot 
demonstrate  God  as  we  do  a  problem  in 
geometry,  yet  we  can  know  him.  We  know 
God  best  in  fellowship,  as  we  know  our 
parents  and  love  and  trust  them  by  being 
with  them.  The  deepest  realities  of  life 
are  not  demonstrated.  They  are  divined. 
The  instinct  to  do  right,  acted  upon 
promptly,  gives  experience  in  right  doing, 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    39 

and  the  field  of  right  is  enlarged.  We  know 
by  living  and  venturing.  Life  is  first  faith 
that  my  deepest  demands — right,  love, 
trust,  and  good — are  real.  We  surrender 
to  these  as  worth  while  and  later  reason 
about  them  to  justify  them.  Hence  we 
know  only  as  we  venture.  This  is  not  per- 
fect logic,  but  it  is  perfect  life,  or  life  per- 
fected. God  has  us  in  tow  for  another 
shore. 

Experience,  then,  is  the  way  of  life,  the 
key  to  the  future  and  the  test  of  reality. 
God  is  gained  in  the  venture.  Love  comes 
by  living,  and  goodness  fattens  on  honest 
endeavor.  Out  of  the  largest  aspirations, 
heartiest  endeavors,  and  fullest  experiences 
men  have  found  the  greatest  religious  cer- 
tainties, the  fullest  inspiration,  and  the 
truest  knowledge  of  God.  These  personal 
experiences,  efforts,  and  yearnings  are  chan- 
nels of  inspiration.  Godly  men,  quickened 
by  inspiration,  filled  with  joy,  vision,  and 
insight  of  the  unseen  realities  developing 
within  their  hearts,  have  given  us  what  we 
call  Scripture. 

God  sends  us  messages  of  burning  words 


40  THE  PROPHETS 

through  the  best  and  highest  of  the  race. 
The  Hebrew  prophets  thus  ventured  upon 
the  unseen,  and  gained  God.  God  spake, 
and  those  nearest  and  truest  to  him  under- 
stood and  made  known  to  us  of  duller  ears ; 
and  we  call  them  prophets.  The  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord"  of  the  Hebrew  prophet  was 
his  conscientious  conviction  which  the  God  of 
experience  had  pressed  upon  his  soul.  The 
demands  of  God  were  as  burning  fire  in  the 
prophet's  bones  ( Jer.  20.  9) ;  or  the  call  of 
God  was  like  the  roaring  of  a  lion  (Amos 
3.  8).  He  saw  and  heard  and  knew  things 
of  God  foreign  to  the  gaping  multitude. 
"Surely  the  Lord  God  will  do  nothing," 
says  Amos  (3.  7),  "but  he  revealeth  his 
secret  unto  his  servants  the  prophets." 
This  is  spiritual  discernment,  insight,  fore- 
sight, and  up  sight.  **"* 

MODERN  VIEW  OF  GOD'S  INSPIRED  SPOKES- 
MEN 

In  what  sense  is  such  prophetic  utter- 
ance the  word  of  God?  First,  in  the  £ense 
that  the  prophet  himself,  as  we  have  seen, 
is  steeped  in  a  God-life.  As  he  is  full  of 


THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    41 

God,  he  speaks  fully  of  God.  As  righteous- 
ness, mercy,  and  love  are  set  in  his  heart,  his 
voice  rings  with  these  divine  notes.  The 
very  name  "prophet,"  Nabi,  means  "a 
spokesman,"  or  "one  bubbling  over  with  the 
truth,"  or  one  speaking  the  message  of  an- 
other. Both  the  prophet  and  the  people 
of  the  Old  Testament  believed  that  the  man 
of  God  spoke  for  God  (Exod.  4.  16;  1  Sam. 
3.  20,  21). 

Secondly,  it  is  the  word  of  God  in  the 
sense  that  the  prophet  is  conscious  of  a 
divifiejnessage.  He  is  sure  that  he  is  right, 
consequently  he  speaks  with  authority.  He 
declares  the  truth  as  "the  Lord  put  his  spirit 
upon  him"  (Num.  11.  29;  18.  6).  He  is  a 
forthteller,  rather  than  a  foreteller.  He 
proclaims  more  than  he  predicts.  He  speaks 
to  his  own  time  more  than  down  through 
the  centuries. 

Thirdly,  the  prophetic  word  is  God's  word 
in  the  sense  that  it  stands  the  test  of  ex- 
perience. The  fundamental  notes  of  the 
prophets  are  true  to  life's  deepest  calls. 
Their  notes  accord  with  our  best  judgment 
and  largest  experience  as  being  sound. 


42  THE  PROPHETS 

Hence,  what  they  declared,  in  the  main,  is 
universal  and  necessary  to  good  life.  They 
stand  the  test  of  conduct  and  welfare.  That 
is  inspired  which  inspires ;  that  is  true  which 
is  binding  upon  us;  that  is  good  which  has 
good  results  when  broadly  applied.  What 
they  said  is  authoritative  because  it  is  bind- 
ing. It  holds  us  by  appealing  to  our  inner 
demands. 

Prophetic  declarations,  however,  were  not 
necessarily  of  equal  inspirational  value. 
They  consisted  of  grades  and  shades  of 
utterances.  The  prophets  grasped  God's 
revelations  more  or  less  perfectly  according 
to  their  preparedness  to  receive  them. 
Isaiah,  for  instance,  could  speak  of  God  in 
history  and  in  the  councils  of  nations  be- 
cause he  was  experienced  in  statecraft. 
Hosea  could  reveal  God  as  infinite  love  be- 
cause he  himself  loved  passionately.  Jere- 
miah could  declare  the  spirituality  of  reli- 
gion as  independent  of  temple  and  priest 
because  he  experienced  deeply  the  spiritual 
life.  Isaiah  of  the  captivity  would  declare 
suffering  for  others  because  he  himself  suf- 
fered the  agony  of  a  captive.  God  reveals 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY;  43 

himself  most  where  the  human  experience! 
is  fullest  and  noblest,  because  there  inspira-J 
tion  is  most  favorable. 

"Four  things  a  man  must  learn  to  do 
If  he  would  keep  his  record  true: 
To  think  without  confusion  clearly; 
To  love  his  fellow  men  sincerely ; 
To  act  from  honest  motives  purely ; 
To  trust  in  God  and  heaven  securely." 

REFERENCES 

William  James,  The  Varieties  of  Religious  Ex- 
perience, 1902. 

G.  B.  Cutten,  The  Psychological  Phenomena  of 
Christianity,  1908. 

E.  S.  Ames,  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experi- 
ence, 1910. 

I.  King,  The  Development  of  Religion,  1910. 

J.  H.  Leuba,  A  Psychological  Study  of  Religion, 
1912. 

H.  C.  McComas,  The  Psychology  of  Religious 
Sects,  1912. 

J.  B.  Pratt,  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Belief, 
1908. 

E.  D.  Starbuck,  The  Psychology  of  Religion, 
1911. 

G.  Stevens,  The  Psychology  of  the  Christian  Soul. 


44  THE  PROPHETS 

George  Coe,  The  Spiritual  Life,  The  Religion  of 

a  Mature  Mind. 
G.  M.  Stratton,  The  Psychology  of  the  Religious 

Life,  1912. 
J.  M.  Campbell,  Paul  the  Mystic. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    45 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
REVELATIONS 

GREAT  books,  like  great  men,  are  born. 
They  are  not  mechanically  made.  They  are 
living  creations,  fathered  by  living  men,  be- 
gotten in  the  soul  of  the  author.  The 
vitality  of  a  book  depends  upon  the  im- 
parted spirit  of  its  author  and  the  loftiness 
and  breadth  of  its  ideas  expressed.  In  this 
respect  the  Bible  books  are  supreme.  They 
bear  messages  of  truth  to  all  men.  They 
reveal  God  who  gave  himself  to  the  authors 
in  their  patient  brooding,  in  their  fancies 
of  visions,  and  in  their  spiritual  devotion. 

"In  the  Royal  Art  Museum  in  Berlin 
there  is  a  picture  of  Matthew  writing  his 
Gospel.  He  is  represented  as  an  old  man 
with  a  flowing  beard,  seated  at  a  desk  upon 
which  there  is  a  roll.  Behind  him  stands 
an  angel  who  reaches  over  his  shoulder  and 


46  THE  PROPHETS 

guides  his  pen.  There  is  a  look  of  intense 
surprise  on  Matthew's  face,  as  he  sees  what 
his  own  hand,  guided  by  the  angel,  has  writ- 
ten."1 This  striking  picture  represents  what 
was  once  generally  believed  to  have  been 
God's  way  of  revealing  himself  to  men.  A 
few  antiques  still  believe  in  this  mechanical 
theory.  It  seems  to  us  now  that  God  must 
have  moved  upon  the  spirit  of  olden  men  by 
his  Spirit  as  he  moves  each  of  us  at  present. 
Out  of  that  divine  impact  of  Spirit  upon 
spirit  "holy  men  of  old  were  moved,"  and 
out  of  the  depths  of  their  own  souls  drew 
forth,  as  living  and  free  men,  what  they 
found  there.  The  hand  of  a  wooden  Indian 
will  respond  to  mechanical  control,  but  liv- 
ing men  answer  to  an  inner  call.  The 
prophets  were  divine  agents  and  not  celestial 
graphophones. 

DIVINE  DISCOVERY  IN  STRUGGLE 

Joseph  Lee,  in  his  recent  readable  book 
on  Play  in  Education,  describes  a  playful 
kitten  that  "gave  a  remarkable  series  of 


1 D.  A.  Hayes,  The  Synoptic  Problem,  p.  42. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    47 

demonstrations"  of  how  "play  trains  for 
life."  "A  cork  was  her  favorite  plaything. 
...  She  would  crouch  and  lie  in  wait  for 
it,  bat  it  with  her  paw,  run  after  it,  dodge, 
jump  into  the  air,  .  .  .  and  following  with 
a  continued  somersault  and  corkscrew 
movement;  .  .  .  always  the  movement 
ended  with  a  pounce  in  which  both  paws 
came  down  on  the  cork  and  held  it  fast." 

"What  was  the  kitten  doing?  Obviously, 
she  was  learning  her  job.  You  could  almost 
see  that  cork  turn  into  a  mouse  as  she  pur- 
sued. She  was  becoming  a  cat  by  doing 
the  things  of  a  cat,  .  .  .  and  the  soft  body, 
from  its  first  helpless  moment,  was  molded 
by  that  exercise."  The  author  reflects  that 
"her  whole  activity  was  radial," — that  there 
"was  no  'right  paw,'  'upward  raised!'  in  her 
instruction,"  .  .  .  and  that  "in  the  unsenti- 
mental, deadly  practical  school  of  nature 
the  activity  thus  prescribed  is  that  by  which 
life  is  going  to  be  supported.  .  .  .  That  the 
purpose  had  first  then  taken  possession  of 
her  soul  and  was  working  from  that  out- 
ward, ruling  every  nerve  and  muscle  from 
troubled  brow  to  spike  of  quivering  tail. 


48  THE  PROPHETS 

What  possessed  her  was  the  passion  and 
ecstasy  of  pursuit,  to  which  her  physical 
organism  conformed  as  best  it  could.  A 
kitten  playing  is  a  hunting  demon,  a  soul 
of  fire,  a  spirit  that  outruns  all  possible  ex- 
pression. The  cat  becomes  a  hunter  from 
the  soul  out  because  it  is  the  hunter  in  her 
that  has  built  her  mind  and  body  from  the 
start."1 

The  reader  may  wonder  why  so  much 
space  has  been  taken  up  in  this  chapter  with 
the  life  of  a  worthless  kitten.  It  is  because 
this  narrative  points  out  so  well  the  divine 
way  of  all  development,  human  as  well  as 
feline.  Was  it  not  in  the  unsentimental, 
deadly  practical  school  of  nature,  "the  play 
and  the  struggle  of  life,  the  stress  and  flut- 
ter of  the  soul,"  that  the  prophets  gained 
the  secrets  of  God?  The  lofty  "purpose  had 
first  taken  possession  of  his  soul  and  was 
working  from  that  outward,  ruling  every 
nerve  and  muscle.  .  .  .  What  possessed  him 
was  the  passion  and  ecstasy  of  pursuit." 
The  prophet  is  a  "soul  of  fire,  a  spirit  that 

1  Joseph  Lee,  Play  in  Education.  Chapter  III. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    49 

outruns  all  possible  expression."  The 
prophet  became  an  agent  of  special  revela- 
tion because  it  was  the  supernatural  in  him 
"that  has  built  mind  and  body  from  the 
start."  Whatever  is  to  be  evolved  must 
first  be  involved.  In  the  "deadly  practical 
school"  of  living  intensely  from  moment  to 
moment  and  discovering  ourselves  in  the 
struggle,  the  activity  thus  prescribed  is  that 
by  which  life  is  going  to  be  supported. 

The  prophets  as  revealers  of  God  had  av 
divine  task.  Theirs  was  the  task  of  estab- 
lishing religious  truth.  "The  task  of  revela- 
tion is  nothing  else  than  to  bring  religion 
into  existence."  How  could  they  reveal 
God  unless  he  takes  hold  of  the  human  life? 
How  could  ideas  of  God  come  without  ex- 
perience of  God?  The  immediate  influence 
of  God  in  the  prophet's  consciousness  gave 
rise  to  the  prophetic  revelations. 

Why  should  this  special  revelation  be  the 
gift  of  the  Hebrew  prophets?  Historically, 
it  was  Israel's  gift  because  she  alone  of  an- 
cient peoples  progressed  most  in  religion, 
took  God  most  seriously,  played  hardest  at 
the  game  of  life,  filled  her  days  to  overflow- 


50  THE  PROPHETS 

ing  with  pious  concerns,  and  her  noblest 
men,  the  prophets,  registered  highest  in 
divine  attainments.  This  is  not,  however, 
merely  the  result  of  a  religious  tendency  in 
the  race  of  Israel,  as  some  contend.  The 
special  tendency  here  calls  for  an  added  fac- 
tor— the  self -revelation  of  God  in  Hebrew 
history  and  prophetic  consciousness.  As 
the  kitten  described  needed  cat  instinct,  the 
cork,  and  human  protection  to  succeed,  so 
the  prophet  needed  his  country,  its  history, 
its  playground,  its  problems,  and  its  Je- 
hovah to  attain  his  prophetic  position  as 
God's  revealer. 

NATURALNESS  IN  REVELATION 

Prophetic  revelation  sprang  from  the 
depths  of  prophetic  conviction,  born  in  the 
day's  work  with  God  for  man.  The 
prophets  are  best  understood  as  real  men 
like  ourselves,  who  attempted  to  live  big, 
earnest,  clean  lives  as  they  faced  twisted 
problems  and  gave  their  red,  human  blood 
to  solve  them.  They  must  not  be  set  apart 
entirely  from  our  common  human  experi- 
ences as  a  totally  different  order  of  beings. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    51 

Their  contact  with  God  was  not  one  differ- 
ent in  kind  from  ours,  but  perhaps  differ- 
ent in  degree  and  purpose.  They  were, 
first  of  all,  intensely  human.  But  they  were 
extraordinary  men.  They  thought  soberly. 
They  felt  deeply.  They  had  stirring  convic- 
tions. They  were  flaming  preachers  of 
righteousness.  They  were  impassioned  re- 
formers, clear-eyed  statesmen,  and  flaming 
orators.  They  were  not  just  lonely  seers 
staring  into  the  future,  predicting  far-off 
divine  events.  They  spoke  and  wrote  out 
of  living  experiences,  much  as  earnest  men  / 
do  now. 

Take  a  striking  instance — the  prophet 
Amos,  thundering  his  first  message  in  the 
ears  of  guilty  Israel.  He  traveled  from 
Tekoah,  his  birthplace,  south  of  Jerusalem, 
where  he  was  a  shepherd,  to  Bethel  in  the 
northern  kingdom  and  appeared  there  at  the 
time  of  the  great  yearly  feast  when  the  ten 
northern  tribes  were  gathered  to  eat  and 
to  drink,  sacrifice  animals,  and  give  thanks 
to  Jehovah  for  the  season's  prosperity. 
While  economic  and  social  differences  were 
widening,  evils  multiplying,  and  greed  con- 


52  THE  PROPHETS 

sinning  the  nation,  the  immoral  worshipers 
tried  to  bribe  Jehovah  with  offerings. 

The  prophet  let  loose  his  belching  invec- 
tive on  the  unsuspecting  revelers  at  Bethel 
thus:  "The  Lord  will  roar  from  Zion,  and 
utter  his  voice  from  Jerusalem;  and  the 
habitations  of  the  shepherds  snail  mourn, 
and  the  top  of  Carmel  shall  wither."  The 
prophet  did  not  at  once  condemn  his  guilty 
hearers  before  him  for  their  sins,  but  instead 
began  with  the  sins  of  the  surrounding 
nations  with  whom  Israel  had  dealt  and  dis- 
liked— Syria,  Philistia,  Ammon,  Moab,  and 
Edom — whom  he  bitterly  denounced  be- 
cause they  had  transgressed  the  universal 
laws  of  morality:  sins  of  cruelty,  slavery, 
immorality,  and  sacrilege.  Thus,  like  a 
skillful  hunter,  he  circled  about  his  game, 
slowly  closing  in  upon  Israel,  and  only  after 
the  hearers  had  become  attentive  and  given 
assent  to  the  moral  principle  that  God  hates 
sin  and  will  punish  the  guilty  did  he  turn 
his  relentless  logic  upon  the  evil  hearers  be- 
fore him.  "For  three  transgressions  of 
Israel,  and  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away 
the  punishment  thereof;  because  they  sold 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    53 

the  righteous  for  silver,  and  the  poor  for  a 
pair  of  shoes;  that  pant  after  the  dust  of 
the  earth  on  the  head  of  the  poor,  .  .  .  for 
they  know  not  to  do  right,  saith  the  Lord, 
who  store  up  violence  and  robbery  in  their 
palaces.  .  .  .  Ye  who  turn  judgment  to 
wormwood,  and  leave  off  righteousness, 
.  .  .  and  cause  the  seat  of  violence  to  come 
near ;  that  lie  upon  beds  of  ivory,  and  stretch 
themselves  upon  their  couches,  and  eat  the 
lambs  out  of  the  flock,  and  the  calves  out  of 
the  midst  of  the  stall;  that  chant  to  the 
sound  of  the  viol,  .  .  .  that  drink  wine  in 
bowls.  .  .  .  Hear  this,  O  ye  that  swallow 
up  the  needy,  even  to  make  the  poor  of  the 
land  to  fail,  .  .  .  falsifying  the  balances  by 
deceit,  that  .  .  .  buy  the  poor  for  silver,  and 
the  needy  for  a  pair  of  shoes;  yea,  and  sell 
the  refuse  of  the  wheat.  .  .  .  The  Lord  hath 
sworn  by  the  excellency  of  Jacob,  Surely 
I  will  never  forget  any  of  their  works.  Shall 
not  the  land  tremble  for  this,  and  every  one 
mourn  that  dwelleth  therein?  .  .  .  And  I 
will  turn  your  feasts  into  mourning,  and  all 
your  songs  into  lamentation"  (Amos  1  to  8, 
extracts). 


54  THE  PROPHETS 

AN  EVENTFUL  MOMENT 

This  was  an  eventful  moment  at  Bethel 
in  the  long,  long  ago.  A  soul  on  fire  was 
pouring  forth  molten  words  which  burn 
themselves  into  humanity.  Such  words  stir 
men  to  their  diviner  depths.  Does  not 
speech  (in  any  tongue  or  time  or  country 
thus  spoken)  seem  sacred  and  carry  the 
mark  of  the  Holy  Spirit  upon  it?  It  is  like 
a  Luther  or  Wesley  moving  the  multitude. 
Had  David  Grayson  heard  Amos  give  his 
social  plea  at  Bethel  instead  of  Bill  Hahn, 
the  socialist,  at  Kilburn,  he  might  have  ap- 
plied to  Amos  the  same  descriptive  para- 
graph: "My  experience  in  the  world  is 
limited,  but  I  have  never  heard  anything 
like  that  speech  for  sheer  power.  It  was 
as  unruly  and  powerful  and  resistless  as  life 
itself.  It  was  no  mere  giving  out  by  the 
orator  of  ideas  and  thoughts  and  beliefs  of 
his  own.  It  seemed,  rather,  as  though  the 
speaker  was  looking  into  the  very  hearts  of 
that  vast  gathering  of  poor  men  and  poor 
women  and  merely  telling  them  what  they 
themselves  felt,  but  could  not  tell.  It  was 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    55 

as  though  they  said,  'Yes,  yes,'  with  a  feel- 
ing of  vast  relief,  'Yes,  yes,  at  last  our  own 
hopes  and  fears  and  desires  are  being  uttered 
—yes,  yes.'  "* 

Such  flaming  faith  is  generated  only  in 
the  crucible  of  hot  experience,  earnest  brood- 
ing, and  divine  contact,  whether  in  by-gone 
or  present  days.  Life  begets  life,  whether 
flesh  touches  flesh  or  soul  touches  soul. 

"  "Tis  life,  whereof  our  nerves  are  scant, 
O,  life,  not  death,  for  which  we  pant ; 
More  life,  and  fuller,  that  I  want." 

SCRIPTURAL,  RESTRICTION  OF  REVELATION 

When  one  turns  to  examine  the  Old 
Testament  it  is  clear  that  Holy  Writ  itself 
witnesses  to  several  facts  as  to  revelation. 
A  few  of  these  facts  may  be  pointed  out  in 
helping  us  to  think  of  the  subject  of  revela- 
tion and  in  treating  the  Book  which  records 
it.  That  God  has  freely  and  frequently  re- 
vealed himself  to  man  is  a  fact  taken  for 
granted  in  the  old  Testament.  Both  the 
early  and  the  late  prophetic  records  testify 
to  this.  It  is  never  a  matter  for  dispute. 

1  David  Grayson,  The  Friendly  Road,  p.  278. 


56  THE  PROPHETS 

Rather  it  is  a  Hebrew  certainty.  The  pos- 
session of  the  spirit  of  man  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  is  a  scriptural  reiteration  familiar  to 
all  as  indicated  by  such  passages  as:  "Now 
the  Lord  had  told  Samuel"  (1  Sam.  9.  15) ; 
and,  "The  prophet  that  hath  a  dream,  let 
him  tell  a  dream ;  and  he  that  hath  my  word, 
let  him  speak  my  word  faithfully"  (Jer. 
23.  28). 

God's  unique  revelations  to  man  are  usu- 
ally restricted  to  the  spiritual  and  moral 
domains.  The  records  of  the  Old  Testament 
do  not  witness  to  a  full  and  free  revelation 
of  God  upon  all  kinds  of  knowledge  useful 
to  men.  The  revelation  of  which  the 
prophets  are  conscious  is  prevailingly  a  reve- 
lation of  God's  moral  character,  his  moral 
purpose  for  man,  his  workings  in  history, 
his  love  for  Israel,  his  mercy  for  the  sinning, 
and  his  age-long  plan  of  human  redemption. 
The  restricted  revelation  was  unique  in  the 
history  of  the  Hebrew  people  through  its 
prophets  (Jer.  23;  Amos  1  to  4;  Isa.  1  to 
6). 

Taking  the  uniform  testimony  of  the 
great  prophets,  are  we,  to-day,  warranted  in 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    57 

holding  a  theory  of  revelation  which  calls 
for  an  infallible  revelation  on  all  subjects 
under  heaven?  Were  not  scientific,  his- 
torical, geographical,  literary,  and  all  other 
material  facts  usually  acquired  by  the  sacred 
writers,  as  to-day,  by  finding  out  the  facts 
in  the  ordinary  human  way?  Hence  some 
distinction  should  be  made  between  state- 
ments of  human  limitation  and  statements 
of  divine  revelation,  as  found  in  the  Bible. 
In  this  way  errors  of  dates,  names,  and 
places,  which  modern  critics  point  out  in 
these  records,  can  be  accounted  for  without 
impairing  the  essential  religious  and  moral 
sanction  of  revelation.  A  tolerant  attitude 
also  may  be  held  toward  the  critic  who  has 
meant  no  violence  to  the  Book.  If  it  should 
be  found  that  the  sacred  writers  believed  the 
earth  to  be  flat  and  stationary,  this  was  their 
human  limitation  of  knowledge,  and  need  in 
no  way  affect  their  spiritual  message  of 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord."  The  divine  truth 
of  universal  moral  requirements  as  God's 
demand  upon  man  is  not  in  the  least  affected 
by  changing  the  scientific  theory  of  the 
earth's  shape  or  mode  of  travel.  One  may 


58  THE  PROPHETS 

have  a  correct  knowledge  of  God  and  his 
demands,  and  at  the  same  time  a  wrong  view 
of  the  solar  system.  Men  might  be  just 
as  loyal  and  pleasing  to  God  under  the 
Ptolemaic  as  under  the  Copernican  theory 
of  the  universe.  Yet,  for  all  that,  we  may 
welcome  heartily  the  corrections  which 
science  makes,  and  turn  all  to  the  glory  of 
God.  Compare  Micah  1.  9  and  3.  12  with 
Isaiah  36  and  37.  The  book  of  Lamenta- 
tions complains  that  "Thy  prophets  have 
seen  vain  and  foolish  things  for  thee"  (2. 
14). 

GRADUALNESS  IN  REVELATION 

An  appeal  to  the  Old  Testament  shows, 
further,  that  revelation  of  God's  will  and 
way  has  been  gradual,  concrete,  and  his-* 
torical.  It  has  unfolded  bit  by  bit  from  age 
to  age.  The  earlier  prophets  did  not  see 
or  grasp  God's  meanings  in  the  fullness  of 
the  later  prophets.  Between  the  concep- 
tions of  Samuel  and  Jeremiah  there  are 
marked  degrees  of  fullness  and  clearness. 
Samuel  is  found  clinging  to  the  sacrificial 
system  (1  Sam.  7.  9),  while,  five  centuries 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    59 

later,  Jeremiah  vehemently  criticized  it 
(Jer.  7.  22).  This  is  the  view  of  revelation 
taken  by  the  sacred  author  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Hebrews  (1.  1,  2).  Take  the  ideas 
of  God,  sin,  redemption,  ethics,  social 
claims,  law  of  retribution,  claims  of  human 
brotherhood,  marriage  laws,  views  of 
slavery,  death,  and  the  future — all  gradu- 
ally clear  up  and  fill  out  under  the  long  his- 
tory of  the  Hebrew  people  in  their  match- 
less schooling  by  Jehovah.  The  Holy  One 
of  Israel  drew  very  near  to  his  people,  and 
"impressed  his  divine  and  eternal  person- 
ality through  the  inspired  consciousnesses 
of  her  great  sons,  the  prophets."  But  cen- 
turies of  time  were  needed  to  accomplish 
the  result,  and  the  history  of  the  Hebrews 
constitutes  the  textbook.  The  high  ethical 
monotheism  of  the  prophets  is  the  result  of 
the  divinely  prolonged  schooling.  While 
all  other  ancient  peoples  said,  "God  is  many 
and  sensuous,"  Israel  was  able  to  say,  "God 
is  one,  and  holy"  (Jer.  10.  8-10). 

PROPHETIC  METHOD  OF  REVELATION 
The    method    of    prophetic    revelation 


60  THE  PROPHETS 

varied  greatly.  The  old  Testament  shows 
that  God  used  various  ways  of  making  his 
message  known  to  his  servant,  the  prophet. 
Samuel  found  his  message  in  night  dreams 
(1  Sam.  3.  3,  4;  Deut.  13.  1-4),  while  Moses 
listened  to  God  out  of  a  physical  phenome- 
non (Exod.  3.  2).  Both  Jacob  and  Moses 
are  described  as  meeting  God  "face  to  face" 
(Gen.  32.  30;  Exod.  33.  11).  In  many  in- 
stances the  message  is  given  by  an  angel 
(Gen.  16.  7;  22.  1-11;  Judg.  6.  11-14). 
Often  the  divine  will  was  sought  in  ecstatic 
states,  as  in  the  case  of  Balaam  (Num.  24. 
4;  2  Kings  3.  15).  By  vision  the  word  of 
God  came  most  often  to  the  prophets  (Isa. 
1.  1-6;  6.  1-10;  Obad.  1.  1;  Nahum  1.  1) ; 
by  prayer  and  solitary  meditation  it  came  to 
Habakkuk  (2.1,2). 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  however,  that  all 
other  methods  except  vision  virtually  ceased 
to  be  employed,  while  vision  came  to  be  the 
common  way  of  receiving  God's  message  by 
the  great  prophets  from  Amos  to  Jeremiah. 
Jeremiah  in  his  time  almost  discredits  reve- 
lation by  means  of  dreams  as  a  trick  of  lying 
prophets  (Jer.  23).  Now,  the  Hebrew 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    61 

words  for  "vision"  and  "seer"  appear  to 
have  come  from  the  same  root  and  to  mean 
something  akin  to  insight  or  meditation. 
Hence  the  great  prophets  depended  for  their 
revelations  from  God,  not  upon  abnormal 
states  of  dreams  or  ecstasy,  but  upon  direct 
spiritual  enlightenment  in  a  state  of  normal 
self-possession.  We  may  conclude,  there- 
fore, that  God  reveals  himself  in  any  way 
that  man  is  able  to  understand.  Obviously, 
God  is  manifested  most  often  and  clearly  in 
direct  experience  of  the  normal  soul,  which 
is  the  divine  method  we  know  best  to-day. 
The  content  of  the  divine  message  is  quite 
distinct  from  the  way  it  was  obtained.  "It 
is  not  how  and  when  it  happened,  but  what 
happened"  that  is  significant.  In  Deut.  13. 
1-4,  we  are  told  that  the  best  of  spiritual 
claims  need  testing,  by  noting  the  nature  of 
the  message  claimed. 

PROPHETIC  REVELATION  AND  BIBLICAL 
MISTAKES 

To  one  holding  the  above  attitude,  such 
troublesome  passages  as  "And  the  Lord 
hardened  the  heart  of  Pharaoh"  (Exod.  9. 


62  THE  PROPHETS 

12),  "Samuel  hewed  Agag  in  pieces"  (1 
Sam.  15.  33),  and  "The  evil  spirit  from  God 
came  upon  Saul"  (1  Sam.  18.  10),  present 
no  grave  difficulty  in  their  relation  to  divine 
revelation.  To  the  alert,  modern  mind  one 
finds  that  the  question  cannot  be  answered 
in  a  narrow,  dogmatic  fashion  and  hope  to 
allay  the  evident  unrest.  It  was  once 
enough  to  say  that  there  are  no  errors  in 
the  Bible,  and  that  it  is  the  infallible  word 
of  God.  The  new  attitude  toward  all  facts 
taken  by  the  present  alert  minds  calls  for  a 
frank,  open,  and  broad  treatment  of  such 
questions,  in  keeping  with  the  new  forces  of 
our  civilization. 

If  the  foregoing  considerations  be  kept 
in  mind,  some  of  the  most  common  and  mis- 
leading mistakes  made  in  treating  the  Bible 
may  be  avoided,  namely: 

1.  That  of  judging  the  entire  Bible  by 
a  few  stray  statements  like  those  cited  above. 
This  would  be  like  judging  an  entire  box 
of  apples  by  a  few  defective  ones. 

2.  That  of  judging  a  collective  production 
in  the  light  of  its  lowest  and  least  represen- 
tative expressions,  rather  than  its  highest 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    63 

and  worthiest.  A  great  singer  is  rated  by 
her  best.  The  Bible  must  be  rated  by  its 
outcome,  and  not  by  its  beginnings.  The 
measure  is  not  Genesis,  but  the  Gospels; 
not  Cain,  but  Christ. 

3.  That  of  failing  to  value  the  Bible,  as 
we  value  all  other  writings,  in  the  light  of 
its  prevailing  and  steadily  reiterated  spirit 
and  aim.  The  genius  and  germ  of  divine 
revelation  was  already  present,  it  is  plain 
to  see,  in  early  Old  Testament  faith  and  life, 
however  dimly  and  crudely  expressed.  For, 
note  that  these  records  stand  from  first  to 
last  committed  to  a  way  of  life  which  must 
conform  to  God's  will,  and  all  life  is  to  be 
interpreted  in  terms  of  moral  destiny. 
"Shall  not  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do 
right?"  (Gen.  18.  25),  queried  Abraham. 

REVELATION  A  DIVINE-HUMAN  PARTNEB- 
SHIP 

Is  prophecy,  then,  human  or  divine?  It 
is  neither  and  it  is  both,  as  we  look  at  it. 
As  to  the  inspiring  source,  it  is  divine;  as 
to  the  manner  of  expressing  this  God-im- 
pulse, it  is  human.  Hence,  prophecy  is 


64  THE  PROPHETS 

humanly  divine,  and  divinely  human;  and 
the  natural  in  the  Bible  is  as  supernatural 
as  the  supernatural  is  natural;  that  is,  with- 
out God  the  Bible  could  not  be ;  without  man 
it  is  not  likely  to  have  come.  God,  working 
in  the  heart  of  man,  paged  it  in  human  ex- 
perience, man  deciphered  the  handwriting 
on  the  walls  of  his  own  heart,  recorded  it  in 
the  Bible,  and  it  has  become  the  universal 
record  of  inspiration  which  he  who  runs  may 
read.  The  finger  of  God  wrote  his  revela- 
tions on  the  heart  as  he  daily  quickened  the 
prophet's  soul.  We  continue  to  heed  the 
prophet  as  the  man  of  God.  This  view  of 
revelation  has  been  happily  expressed  in  the 
familiar  words  of  Tennyson,  "Speak  to  him, 
thou,  for  he  hears."  That  which  God  com- 
municates in  experience,  prophets  commit 
to  parchment.  The  divine  flame  which 
burned  in  the  breast  of  Jeremiah  came  from 
the  same  source  as  the  fire  which  flames  in 
the  bosom  of  Gipsy  Smith.  He  who  gave 
his  word  to  ancient  prophet  will  not  with- 
hold his  Spirit  from  modern  preacher.  The 
God  who  inspired  inspires,  the  Lord  who 
revealed  reveals,  and  the  Spirit  which  in- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    65 

dwelt  indwells.    The  God  of  ancient  history 
is  also  the  God  of  modern  times. 

Such  a  view  does  not  imply  new  scriptural 
revelation,  but  it  may  make  room  for  fresh 
revelations  of  scriptural  contents  applicable 
to  changing  conditions.  We  do  not  need  a 
new  Bible,  nor  a  new  religion.  We  need 
a  better  understanding  of  the  old  Bible;  a 
fresh,  vitalized  way  of  using  it;  and  a  re- 
covery of  the  spirit  manifested  in  the  old 
religion  in  order  to  make  the  God  of  the 
Bible  dominant  in  every  human  life  and  in 
all  social  relations.  If  this  can  best  be  done 
by  reconstructing  methods  of  religious  work, 
by  reinterpreting  the  Bible  meanings,  and 
by  remodeling  old  creeds,  well  and  good. 
Lord,  show  us  the  way,  or  we  perish! 


66  THE  PROPHETS 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
MEANING 

AT  present  there  is  a  popular  craze  for 
Russian  novels  in  this  country.  Recently 
the  writer  of  these  studies  selected  and  read 
one  of  these  bearing  the  empty  title  The 
Idiot,  written  by  Dostoevsky.  The  book 
contained  at  least  one  sentence  worth  quot- 
ing, which  may  serve,  by  way  of  contrast,  as 
a  starting  point  for  this  chapter:  "There  is, 
indeed,  nothing  more  annoying  than  to  be, 
for  instance,  wealthy,  of  good  family,  nice- 
looking,  fairly  intelligent,  and  even  good- 
natured,  and  yet  to  have  no  talents,  no  spe- 
cial faculty,  no  peculiarity  even,  not  one 
idea  of  one's  own,  to  be  precisely  like  other 
people." 

The  Hebrew  prophets  are  certainly  ex- 
empt from  the  charge  of  being  common- 
place, dull,  or  barren  of  ideas.  They  were, 
on  the  contrary,  delightfully  fresh,  boldly 
original,  and  impressively  expressive. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    67 

EXAMPLES  OF  BIBLE  INTERPRETATION 

Are  you  familiar  with  the  book  of  Jonah? 
Of  course,  you  are.  Since  it  is  best  to  be- 
gin with  the  familiar,  will  the  reader  look  in 
upon  this  scene?  Five  different  persons  on 
Sunday  morning  are  seated  in  a  room,  each 
with  his  Bible  in  his  hands,  studying  the 
same  passage  of  Scripture,  but  each  using 
a  different  method  of  approach  to  the  Word. 
The  book  is  that  of  Jonah.  Let  us  observe 
what  meaning  each  one  gets  from  the  pas- 
sage. 

A,  who  is  a  literalist,  looks  upon  the  book 
as  sober  history.  Jonah  lived  and  had  in 
detail  the  experiences  narrated.  Jonah  was 
a  prophet  who  disobeyed  God's  command, 
tried  to  evade  his  duty,  ran  off  to  sea,  was 
properly  disciplined,  repented,  and  finally 
carried  out  God's  will  in  sulky  fashion.  It 
all  really  happened  just  as  stated.  Wonder- 
ful to  be  sure,  but  God  can  do  anything,  and 
such  miracles  only  impress  his  greatness  on 
man.  Such  questions  as  the  critic  raises 
—for  example:  Is  it  likely  that  God  could 
use  with  such  telling  effect  a  sulky  prophet? 


68  THE  PROPHETS 

Would  God  send  a  storm  upon  the  whole 
sea  in  order  to  punish  one  man?  Would 
God  actually  use  such  a  form  of  punishment 
as  keeping  a  man  alive  for  three  days  in  the 
fish's  belly?  Under  such  circumstances 
would  a  man  be  likely  to  pray  in  poetry  a 
psalm  of  thanksgiving? — do  not  trouble  A 
because,  either  he  will  not  raise  them,  or,  if 
they  appear,  it  is  enough  to  say  that  God  is 
omnipotent  and  is  capable  of  doing  any- 
thing he  pleases.  Miracles  are  his  delight. 
B  learns  by  looking  up  meanings  of  words 
that  "Jonah"  means  "dove,"  "Tarshish" 
means  "sea,"  "He  paid  the  fare"  has  a 
feminine  suffix,  "her  fare,"  which  must 
mean  the  ship's  fare;  therefore,  Jonah  must 
have  been  rich  and  paid  for  the  ship's  lad- 
ing. "From  the  presence  of  the  Lord" 
means  "banished  from,"  and  "went  down 
into"  means  "hiding  from."  Putting  his 
material  together,  B  arrives  at  the  fanciful 
meaning  of  the  passage  that  a  dove,  the 
symbol  of  a  heavenly  messenger,  finding  no 
responsive  soul  on  earth,  fluttered  over  the 
restless  sea,  the  symbol  of  wickedness;  and 
that  evil  men  banished  the  riches  of  heaven 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    69 

into  the  depths.  That  is,  man  spurned 
God's  great  offers  and  cast  them  beyond  his 
reach. 

C  looks  at  the  passage  from  another 
angle.  To  him  it  is  not  history,  but  allegory 
—an  allegory  of  Israel's  history.  Jonah 
symbolizes  the  nation  Israel;  heathen  na- 
tions are  represented  by  "sea,"  "Nineveh," 
"Babylon";  "storm"  stands  for  God's 
wrath;  "fish"  stands  for  the  devouring  greed 
of  Assyria;  "casting  lots"  symbolizes  Divine 
Providence.  The  meaning  to  C  is,  there- 
fore, clear.  Israel,  God's  prophetic  mes- 
senger, chosen  as  the  bearer  of  his  truth  to 
the  nations,  evades  this  sacred  duty;  hence, 
God  causes  Israel  to  be  swallowed  up  by 
Babylon.  When  duly  disciplined  he  again 
restores  Israel  to  her  native  land  and 
through  her  blesses  the  world. 

D,  who  is  out  after  proof -texts  to  support 
the  theory  that  everything  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment foreshadows  the  coming  of  Christ,  sees 
at  once  in  Jonah  "the  type  of  Christ."  This 
he  bases  on  Matt.  12.  40,  which  reads,  "For 
as  Jonas  was  three  days  and  three  nights  in 
the  whale's  belly;  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  be 


70  THE  PROPHETS 

three  days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of 
the  earth."  Hence  to  D  this  passage  is  one 
more  trophy  in  his  collection — another  bead 
for  his  doctrinal  necklace — and  he  strings  it 
on.  All  else  in  the  book  is  passed  by  on  the 
other  side. 

E,  who  is  after  the  fundamental  truth  of 
the  book,  sees  in  Jonah  and  his  experiences 
the  great  truth  of  God  that  a  selfish,  exclu- 
sive life,  whether  individual  or  national,  leads 
to  disaster  and  is  hateful  to  God.  Any  gift 
bestowed  upon  man,  God  gave  for  service. 
He  sees  that,  whether  this  book  be  history 
or  parable,  the  inspired  prophet  meant  to 
rebuke  his  people  for  their  refusal  to  give 
the  heathen  world  the  lofty  prophetic  reli- 
gion which  they  had  received.  Any  worthy 
gift  or  knowledge  must  be  shared.  The 
book  is  primarily  a  prophetic  sermon,  cal- 
culated to  arouse  the  missionary  spirit  which 
was  well-nigh  dead  in  Israel  at  that  time. 
And  thus  E  gets  meat  for  his  soul  and  the 
meaning  of  the  author. 

CAUSES  FOE  INTERPRETATIVE  VARIATIONS 
I  am  not  concerned  at  this  moment,  how- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    71 

ever,  in  finding  out  who  is  nearest  correct 
in  his  interpretation,  or  who  is  furthest 
astray ;  but  I  am  interested  in  knowing  why 
they  have  reached  such  divergent  results. 
For,  do  not  suppose  that  these  are  merely 
imaginary  instances.  They  represent  popu- 
lar methods  of  getting  the  meaning  from 
Scripture.  They  illustrate  popular  use  and 
abuse  of  prophecy.  Such  results  are  ob- 
tained every  day  in  a  thousand  places.  You 
can  find  just  such  things  in  popular  works 
on  prophecy  on  the  shelves  of  countless 
homes. 

Now,  why  do  such  variations  exist?  It 
is  accounted  for  chiefly  by  the  method  of 
approaching  the  Word,  and  the  immediate 
motive  which  the  reader  has  in  studying  a 
passage.  He  comes  to  the  Bible  primed 
with  a  certain  point  of  view  which  colors  its 
meaning. 

When  we  come  to  interpret  its  meaning, 
variation  appears  and  a  variety  of  results 
occur  in  confused  profusion.  When  a  per- 
son says,  "I  take  the  Bible  for  it,"  such  a 
statement  means  merely  that,  "I  interpret 
it  to  mean  so,"  nothing  more.  Now  the 


72  THE  PROPHETS 

"mean  so"  is  generally  a  personal  factor  of 
wanting  it  so,  and  wanting  it  so  leans  back 
upon  one's  acquired  religious  capital. 

A  recent  able  writer  makes  this  significant 
statement:  "If  I  mistake  not,  the  unrest  of 
the  time  is  less  a  revolt  against  the  content 
of  traditional  beliefs  than  anxiety  of  finding 
some  way  to  be  sure  of  something.  The 
great  question  is  not  whether  or  not  such  a 
doctrine  is  true,  but,  rather,  how  we  are  to 
distinguish  the  true  from  the  false."  We 
all  desire  religious  certainty.  We  do  not, 
however,  want  to  be  in  such  a  hurry  to  be 
certain  that  we  accept  mere  opinions  for 
facts,  even  though  these  opinions  be  dog- 
matically asserted  in  the  name  of  "Bible 
exposition."  Much  that  goes  under  the  name 
of  "Bible  reading,"  "Bible  study,"  or  "Bible 
exposition"  is  merely  dogmatic  barking  and 
faddist  exposure,  often  ludicrous  and  some- 
times indecent;  not  contained  in  Scripture, 
but  extorted  from  it. 

That  most  of  the  interpreters  are  honest 
does  not  materially  change  the  result.  An 
honest  error  of  fact  has  the  same  result  as 
any  other  error.  Mistaking  a  toadstool  for 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    73 

a  mushroom  does  not  ease  digestion,  for 
all  that  the  eater  is  honestly  mistaken.  This 
applies  to  Scripture  interpretation  as  well 
as  to  toadstools — and  with  the  same  result. 

But  what  has  all  this  to  do  with  prophecy? 
It  has  everything  to  do  with  prophecy.  For 
we  cannot  intelligently  and  safely  talk  about 
prophecy  without  first  paying  some  heed  to 
the  methods  and  principles  of  interpreta- 
tion. No  doubt,  it  will  be  said  that  the 
author's  interpretation,  like  all  the  rest,  is 
merely  his  "mean  so,"  and,  therefore,  no  bet- 
ter than  the  others'  "mean  so."  How,  then, 
is  one  to  judge  which  is  correct?  Well,  that 
depends  upon  who  is  getting  the  closest  to 
prophetic  facts  and  who  is  using  the  most 
trustworthy  method  of  getting  the  meaning 
out  of  the  Word,  assuming  that  all  are 
equally  moved  by  the  spirit  of  honesty. 

PREVALENT  METHODS  OF  INTERPRETATION 

Prophecy,  like  other  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture, means  what  we  declare  it  to  mean  as 
a  result  of  the  general  view  we  hold  of  reli- 
gious values,  and  the  popular  method  of 


74  THE  PROPHETS 

Scripture    interpretation    applied.     These 
may  be  suggestively  termed : 

1.  The  Block  Method,  literal  and  arti- 
ficial. 

2.  The  Circus  Method,  raising  false  is- 
sues. 

3.  The  Looking-glass  Method,  allegorical 
treatment. 

4.  The  Curio  Method,  collecting  texts  to 
support  views. 

5.  The  Common-sense  Method,  historical 
and  balanced. 

The  first  treats  the  Bible  in  block  fashion, 
as  literal  history  and  sober  fact  from  cover 
to  cover,  and  makes  it  all  of  equal  value  and 
meaning.  This  makes  the  Bible  wooden  and 
artificial  and  often  leads  to  hypocrisy. 
There  is,  of  course,  history  and  sober  fact, 
but  there  is  much  else  also.  The  second  is 
like  a  circus,  showy  and  spectacular,  but 
foolish  and  unreal.  It  puts  a  little  knowl- 
edge to  sensational  use.  The  third  is  the 
method  of  finding  nothing  historical  or  ac- 
tual, but  treating  everything  as  allegorical 
and  didactic,  so  that  all  parts  have  some 
other  meaning  than  their  plain  statements. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    75 

The  fourth,  or  curio  method,  is  perhaps 
the  one  most  used  and  abused.  It  is  most 
convenient  for  bolstering  up  all  "isms"  and 
false  doctrines  saddled  upon  an  innocent  but 
yearning  public.  By  indiscriminate  collec- 
tions of  passages  for  the  purpose  of  proving 
a  proposition,  any  fad  view  whatever  can  be 
supported.  Polygamy,  suicide,  drunken- 
ness, sorcery,  all  have  been  substantiated  by 
Scripture  quotations.  It  says  in  one  place, 
"Judas  went  and  hanged  himself,"  in  an- 
other, "Go  thou  and  do  likewise."  The  man 
who  was  converted  at  camp  meeting  justi- 
fied himself  in  still  using  tobacco  by  quot- 
ing, "He  that  is  filthy,  let  him  be  filthy  still" 
(Rev.  22.  11).  Obviously,  such  methods 
must  be  used  with  caution,  or  the  Scriptures 
are  easily  perverted. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  CORRECTIVE  INTERPRETA- 
TION 

The  five  students  cited,  getting  the  mean- 
ing from  the  prophecy  of  the  book  of  Jonah, 
illustrate,  respectively,  the  five  popular 
methods  in  vogue.  They  cannot  all  be  cor- 
rect. All  have  drawn  upon  the  same  identi- 


76  THE  PROPHETS 

cal  portion  of  Scripture,  and  yet  each  has 
found  a  different  meaning  in  what  he  read. 

How,  then,  is  the  unskilled  but  earnest 
Bible  reader  to  obtain  the  right  meaning 
from  his  Bible? 

First,  in  the  main,  all  that  is  essential  to 
life  and  salvation  is  sun-clear  to  anyone  of 
average  sense  and  ability  to  read.  No  one 
has  any  trouble  in  grasping  such  meanings 
as  these:  "Hate  the  evil,  and  love  the  good, 
and  establish  judgment  in  the  gate"  (Amos 
5.  15) ;  "Sow  to  yourselves  in  righteousness, 
reap  in  mercy;  break  up  your  fallow 
ground ;  for  it  is  time  to  seek  the  Lord" 
(Hos.  10. 12) ;  "Wash  you,  make  you  clean; 
put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before 
mine  eyes;  cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to  do  well; 
seek  judgment,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge 
the  fatherless,  plead  for  the  widow"  (Isa. 
1.  16-17) .  There  is  no  mistaking  the  mean- 
ing in  such  passages.  The  wayfaring  man 
need  not  err  therein.  The  trouble  in  such 
cases  is  not  mental,  but  moral. 

Secondly,  there  are  many  things,  as  Peter 
said  about  Paul's  writings,  "hard  to  be  un- 
derstood" (2  Pet.  3.  16).  How  shall  the 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    77 

correct  meaning  of  these  be  obtained? 
There  are  a  few  valuable  principles  which 
everyone  should  heed  if  he  is  anxious  to  get 
at  the  truth  of  the  more  difficult  portions  of 
Scripture. 

1.  There  should  be  a  strict  observance  of 
scriptural  facts.    A  single  statement  must 
not  be  so  interpreted  as  to  give  a  wrong  esti- 
mate of  a  large  group  of  facts  and  thus  mis- 
interpret the  prevailing  trend  of  the  passage 
under  consideration.     Take  as  an  instance 
Exod.  7.  3  and  8.  15.    In  one  case  God  is 
said  to  "harden  Pharaoh's  heart"  and  in  the 
other  he   (Pharaoh)    "hardened  his  heart." 
Now,  in  view  of  all  that  is  taught  by  the 
prophets  in  the  Old  Testament  regarding 
the  nature  of  God,  and  by  Christ  in  the  New, 
the   second  statement   expresses  the  right 
estimate ;  for  God  is  of  "purer  eyes  than  to 
behold  evil,  and  canst  not  look  on  iniquity" 
(Hab.  1.  13). 

2.  The  author  must  be  permitted  to  tell 
his  own  story,  and  not  be  forced  to  express 
the   reader's   bias.     Too   often  men   have 
hearty  theories  about  the  Bible,  and  then  try 
to  make  the  Bible  support  them.  We  should 


78  THE  PROPHETS 

recognize  the  writer's  view,  whether  we  like 
it  or  not,  and  not  try  to  twist  it  to  fit  our 
own  view.  This  may  be  illustrated  by  the 
book  of  Genesis.  How  often  it  has  been  in- 
sisted that  the  aim  of  this  book  was  to  write 
history,  or  science,  or  philosophy!  When 
carefully  studied  the  aim  is  seen  to  be  the 
preacher's.  This  prophet-author  has  a  text, 
and  uses  history,  science,  and  story  to  en- 
force the  intended  spiritual  lesson;  namely, 
that  God  cares  for  them  that  care  for  him, 
and  will  keep  and  reward  the  faithful  and 
punish  the  recreant.  All  else  supports  this 
contention. 

3.  It  is  needful  to  take  note  of  literary  dif- 
ferences, styles,  and  forms  of  expression 
used  in  the  Bible  in  the  light  of  the  age  to 
which  they  belong.  The  interpretation  of 
a  passage  is  sometimes  sharply  affected  by 
an  oversight  of  so  simple  a  thing  as  prose 
or  poetry.  In  the  tenth  chapter  of  Joshua, 
which  describes  the  historical  event  of  a  great 
battle  won  before  sunset,  a  bit  of  poetry  is 
inserted  thus:  "Sun,  stand  thou  still  upon 
Gibeon!  and  thou  moon  in  the  valley  of 
Ajalon!"  This  poetic  stanza  has  been 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    79 

treated  by  many  as  prose-fact,  and  pro- 
nounced a  stupendous  miracle  of  an  actual 
suspension  of  the  sun's  movements  for 
hours.  When  it  is  seen  that  it  is  a  bit  of 
poetry  taken  from  the  "Book  of  Jasher" 
(Josh.  10.  13),  it  may  be  interpreted  as  we 
interpret  the  114th  psalm  which  describes 
the  mountains  skipping  like  rams,  and  the 
little  hills  like  lambs. 

The  latter  being  a  sacred  poem  to  an 
earthquake,  found  in  the  midst  of  a  book  of 
poetry,  no  one  has  even  thought  of  regard- 
ing it  as  a  miracle.  Here  poetic  license  is 
accepted.  Many,  therefore,  prefer  to  re- 
gard this  battle-poem  in  like  manner.  The 
question  with  them  is  not  whether  miracles 
are  possible,  for  they  find  them  in  the  Bible. 
It  is  often  a  matter  of  literary  form  which 
decides  the  meaning  of  a  passage.  God  re- 
veals his  truth  in  poetry  as  well  as  in  prose. 
Our  God  must  not  be  thought  so  prosaic  as 
not  to  delight  in  poetry.  Nearly  one  third 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  in  verse. 

4.  To  get  the  right  meaning  one  should 
allow  for  human  limitations  in  grasping  and 
representing  God's  eternal  truths.  Even 


80  THE  PROPHETS 

prophets  and  inspired  biblical  writers  at 
times  "see  through  a  glass,  darkly;  but  then 
face  to  face:  now  I  know  in  part"  (1  Cor. 
13.  12).  Wherever  we  come  upon  a  state- 
ment which  seems  to  present  God  as  making 
demands  unworthy  the  Great  Teacher  of 
the  New  Testament,  we  do  well  to  regard 
it  as  man's,  and  not  as  God's  limitation,  and 
that  we  have  to  do  with  an  imperfect  stage 
of  revelation  which  a  later  stage  completes. 
Unless  it  is  regarded  as  human  shortcoming, 
it  seems  to  many  that  it  would  be  an  in- 
terpretation which  presents  a  blemished  God 
or  a  twisted  morality. 

An  observation  of  these  simple  laws  of  in- 
terpretation will  greatly  aid  anyone  in  find- 
ing the  true  meaning  of  most  passages,  and 
will  avoid  a  variety  of  results  to  which  the 
first  four  methods  cited  are  liable.  On  ac- 
count of  a  lack  of  space  they  can  only  be 
mentioned.  These  methods  distort  the  real 
meaning  of  the  Word;  they  have  the  effect 
of  devitalizing  the  Scriptures ;  they  make  for 
dogmatism  and  bigotry,  fertilize  freak  sects, 
and  fill  many  plain,  hard-headed  people  with 
a  skeptical  attitude  toward  the  Bible. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    81 

The  fifth  method  mentioned  is  the  only 
safe  and  sane  method  of  approach  which 
alone  will  yield  correct  results.  Try  it  and 
see.  That  which  you  interpret  the  Bible  to 
mean  is  the  Bible  which  you  respect  and 
love.  When  we  have  done  all,  some  mean- 
ings will  remain  obscure.  Even  these  we 
may  hope  to  know  when  we  shall  see  "face 
to  face"  (1  Cor.  13.  12).  Meanwhile  let  us 
follow  the  best  guides  and  walk  by  their  in- 
terpretative light.  Since  God  alone  can 
match  our  spiritual  craving,  we  have  need 
to  go  in  quest  of  the  Bible  which  contains 
the  supreme  expression  of  man's  supreme 
experience.  There  we  may  catch  the  mur- 
mur from  the  shores  of  the  eternal  deep  to 
fill  our  common  days  with  speech  of  God. 

"So  let  the  way  wind  up  the  hill  or  down, 

Though  rough  or  smooth,  the  journey  will  be 


Still  seeking  what  I  sought  when  but  a  boy. 
New  friendship,  high  adventure,  and  a  crown. 
I  shall  grow  old,  but  never  lose  life's  zest, 
Because  the  road's  last  turn  will  be  best." 


82  THE  PROPHETS 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
AUTHORITY 

"On  David,  David.  Don't  be  angry  with 
poor  little  Vera  if  she  doubts — if  she  wants 
to  feel  quite  sure.  You  see,  I  was  brought 
up  in  the  Greek  church."  This  plea  of  Miss 
Revendal's,  in  the  play  called  The  Melting 
Pot,  is  in  a  way  a  universal  modern  confes- 
sion of  faith;  and  the  answer  of  David,  the 
hero  of  the  play,  is  worthy  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets:  "It  is  live  things,  not  dead  metals, 
that  are  being  melted  in  the  crucible.  The 
ideas  of  the  fathers  shall  not  be  fastened  on 
the  children.  Each  generation  must  live 
and  die  for  its  own  dream.  .  .  .  Yes — by 
faith  in  the  crucible.  From  the  blood  of 
battlefields  spring  daisies  and  buttercups. 
In  the  divine  chemistry  the  very  garbage 
turns  to  roses." 

There  is  truly  an  eager  and  universal 
quest  for  certainty.  With  open  eyes  and 
ears  we  look  and  listen  for  tokens  of  assur- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    83 

ance.  Can  we  know  for  a  certainty  that  that 
which  we  believe  as  right  and  good  is  the 
very  truth  of  God?  How  we  crave  au- 
thority over  life!  That  is  why  we  cling  so 
stubbornly  to  blind  tradition  and  look  with 
discredit  on  new  ideas.  No,  we  must  not 
be  angry  with  poor  little  doubting  Veras. 
They  have  been  "brought  up"  to  believe  as 
they  do,  and  then  came  the  big  world  and 
doubt.  "It  is  the  fires  of  God  round  his 
crucible,"  to  continue  David's  words.  "Can 
you  hear  the  roaring  and  bubbling?  How 
the  great  Chemist  melts  and  fuses  them  all!" 
This  voices,  in  the  main,  the  modern  reli- 
gious situation  of  the  mass  of  people  about 
us.  They  say  little  about  it,  but  are  much 
troubled  over  their  slipping  faith  which  they 
yearn  to  retain.  If  they  could  only  be  sure 
of  themselves!  How  could  the  ancient 
prophets  be  so  confident  of  moral  truth? 
Can  we  find  in  them  the  key  to  certainty  for 
ourselves? 

PROPHETIC  CERTAINTY 

i 

The  noticeable  characteristic  of  the  He- 
brew prophets  is  their  unshaken  conviction. 


84  THE  PROPHETS 

They  knew  they  were  right.  They  never 
wavered.  Therefore  they  were  men  who 
spoke  with  fiery  zeal.  They  declared  their 
message  with  authority,  and  always  referred 
to  their  message  as  coming  to  them  from 
God  (Jer.  2.  1).  They  appeared  to  be  pos- 
sessed by  the  words  they  spoke.  Hence  their 
literary  formula  runs,  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord,"  or  "Jehovah  of  hosts  hath  spoken 
it"  (Isa.  17.  6;  Ezek.  34.  1;  37.  5;  Amos 
1.  9).  They  had  the  sense  of  a  direct  com- 
munication, so  vivid  and  detailed  that  they 
interpreted  it  as  the  very  voice  of  God. 
Therefore,  the  prophet  was  "a  voice  and  not 
an  echo,  a  dynamic  power  and  not  an  effect, 
a  living  person  and  not  a  shadow."  This 
conviction  of  the  prophet  that  God  spoke 
to  him  and  through  him,  or  in  some  manner 
conveyed  his  revelation  to  him,  meets  the 
Bible  reader  continually.  This  need  not, 
however,  be  taken  in  an  over-literal  sense, 
that  God  always  spoke  in  audible  words  as 
one  man  speaks  to  another;  but  only  that 
the  Spirit  of  God  wrought  the  conviction  in 
the  prophet's  soul  so  that  he  felt  a  divine 
certainty  about  the  message  he  uttered.  An 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    85 

inner  certainty,  however  it  came,  was  just 
as  convincing  as  would  have  been  a  voice 
from  the  sky.  The  preacher  who  is  called 
of  God  for  the  ministry  does  not  hear  a 
voice  like  a  man  speaking  to  him,  but  he  is 
no  less  certain  of  his  call.  God  has  subtler 
ways  of  tucking  the  fact  into  the  soul.  The 
fact  and  source  of  the  divine  certainty  is  the 
all-important  matter;  the  manner  of  receiv- 
ing it  is  indifferent.  The  knowledge  the 
prophets  had  of  spiritual  things  was  imme- 
diate and  conclusive.  The  conviction  of  a 
divine  sense  in  the  soul,  however,  has  never 
been  of  itself  the  sole  guarantee  of  the  value 
and  truth  of  the  message  spoken.  The  mes- 
sage must  also  be  tested  by  its  worth  (Deut. 
13.  1-4).  Nevertheless,  this  sense  gave  the 
prophet  intensity  and  his  words  fire  to  kindle 
the  hearts  of  his  hearers.  The  authority  of 
that  which  they  uttered  rested  upon  their 
intrinsic  worth  for  life. 

Here  lies  a  fact  of  vital  moment,  whether 
for  the  ancient  prophet  of  Israel  or  for  the 
modern  preacher  of  America.  Each  must 
speak  with  authority  to  be  convincing.  Each 
must  have  intense  conviction  of  the  source, 


86  THE  PROPHETS 

the  truth,  and  the  authority  of  that  which 
he  declares.  The  world  in  every  age  will 
listen  to  such  prophets  in  reverent  silence. 
This  is,  no  doubt,  what  Saint  Augustine 
meant  in  saying,  "My  body  lives  by  my 
soul." 

THE  PROPHETIC  CREDENTIAL 

The  Hebrew  word  for  prophet,  Nabi,  re- 
flects the  conception,  a  spokesman  for  Deity 
whose  message  he  carries  and  delivers. 
Aaron  was  appointed  as  Nabi  for  Moses  to 
speak  God's  word  in  Moses'  stead  (Exod. 
4.  16).  Moses  himself  was  regarded  as  a 
prophet  who  received  and  announced  God's 
communication  in  the  public  assembly  of 
Israel  (Deut.  18.  15-18),  and  he  was  prom- 
ised that  such  a  spokesman-prophet  should 
never  be  wanting  to  faithful  Israel.  This 
line  of  prophetic  successors  appeared  in 
every  century  of  Israel's  eventful  history. 
The  belief  that  God  makes  his  will  known 
to  his  people  through  chosen  spokesmen  was 
so  commonplace  in  Israel  that  the  wise  sage 
coined  it  into  a  proverb,  "Where  there  is  no 
vision,  the  people  perish"  (Prov.  29.  18). 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    87, 

V     * 

Men  "shall  run  to  and  fro  to  seek  the  word 
of  the  Lord,"  said  Amos,  "and  shall  not  find 
it"  (8.  12).  So  sure  was  Amos  in  regard 
to  God  revealing  his  will  to  the  prophet  that 
he  challenged  Israel  in  these  significant 
words:  "Surely  the  Lord  will  do  nothing, 
but  he  revealeth  his  secret  unto  his  servants 
the  prophets"  (Amos  3.  7) .  Hosea  phrased 
it,  "Come,  and  let  us  return  unto  the  Lord" 
(6.  1).  The  princely  Isaiah  pleaded  with 
the  people,  "Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  to- 
gether, saith  the  Lord:  ...  for  the  mouth 
of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it"  (1.  18,  20). 
The  intensive  Jeremiah  said,  "His  word  was 
in  mine  heart  as  a  burning  fire  shut  up  in  my 
bones,  and  I  was  weary  with  forbearing,  and 
I  could  not  stay"  ( Jer.  20.  9) .  The  priest- 
prophet  Ezekiel,  being  a  literary  man, 
wrote,  "And  he  said  unto  me,  Son  of  man, 
stand  upon  thy  feet,  and  I  will  speak  unto 
thee.  .  .  .  Eat  this  roll  [book]  and  go 
speak  unto  the  house  of  Israel"  (Ezek.  2. 
1,3.1). 

PROPHETIC  CONVICTION 
This,  then,  was  the  prophet's  credential 


88  THE  PROPHETS 

that  he  believed  the  message  to  have  been 
laid  upon  him  by  Jehovah  himself.  It  was 
this  fact  that  gave  him  a  high  place  and 
great  authority  in  Israel.  Kings  and 
princes,  priests  and  people  alike,  sought  the 
prophet  because  they  believed  him  to  be  a 
spokesman  for  God.  That  is  to  say,  the 
prophets  of  Israel,  the  people  of  Israel,  and 
the  rulers  of  Israel,  all  believed  that  to  speak 
God's  will  one  must  be  inspired  of  God. 
Now,  what  did  they  mean  by  being  inspired? 
They  seem  to  have  meant,  for  one  thing, 
being  "filled  with  the  Spirit,"  which  Paul 
said  was  "the  will  of  the  Lord"  (Eph.  5. 
17-18).  This  is  what  the  prophet  Ezekiel 
clearly  tells  us  in  describing  his  own  call  to 
the  prophetic  mission.  "And  the  Spirit  en- 
tered into  me  when  he  spake  unto  me,  and 
set  me  upon  my  feet,  that  I  heard  him  that 
spake  unto  me"  (Ezek.  2.  2).  A  late 
prophet,  Joel,  predicts  that,  "It  shall  come 
to  pass  afterward,  that  I  will  pour  out  my 
Spirit  upon  all  flesh ;  and  your  sons  snd  your 
daughters  shall  prophesy"  (2.  28) .  In  fact, 
a  display  of  any  personal  quality,  such  as 
skill,  bravery,  strength,  or  wisdom,  in  an  un- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    89 

usual  manner,  was  attributed  directly  to  the 
gift  of  God's  Spirit.  The  Hebrew  mind 
never  counted  secondary  causes  as  we  do, 
but  went  directly  to  the  Divine  Source  for 
everything.  Solomon  received  his  wisdom 
(1  Kings  3.  12),  David  his  courage  (1  Sam. 
17.  45),  Samson  his  physical  strength 
(Judg.  16.  20),  and  Samuel  his  insight  (1 
Sam.  3.  19),  directly  through  the  indwelling 
of  God.  The  Hebrews  believed  that  all  ex- 
ceptional persons  were  miraculously  en- 
dowed with  their  talents,  just  as  were  the 
prophets.  To  quote  again  from  Zangwill's 
Melting  Pot,  David,  the  enthusiastic  musi- 
cian, when  rebuked  by  Mandel  thus,  "But 
you  needn't  get  so  excited  about  it,"  replied, 
"Not  when  one  hears  the  roaring  of  the  fires 
of  God?"  Have  they  not  all  stood  by  the 
same  kindling  flame? 

To-day  when  the  spirit  of  man  is  touched 
by  this  same  Spirit  of  the  living  God,  and 
raised  to  a  greater  intensity,  we  explain  the 
phenomenon  by  secondary  causes,  as  awak- 
ened intuition,  genius,  consecrated  powers, 
awakening,  or  training.  Our  present  love 
for  natural  explanations  betrays  us  into  tak- 


90  THE  PROPHETS 

ing  this  round-about  way  to  explain  the 
revelations  of  God  within  us.  That  is  to 
say,  we  prefer  to  recognize  God's  power  as 
inherent  in  us  and  manifesting  itself  through 
natural  channels.  In  any  event,  the  living 
God  is  the  final  source  of  human  power.  He 
who  inwardly  feels  God  most,  and  who 
thinks  most  about  God,  will  likely  know 
most  of  God;  and  he  who  lives  most  con- 
scientiously and  intimately  with  God  will 
likely  have  the  fullest  sense  of  being  his 
representative.  The  spiritually  minded  see 
God  and  discern  things  which  other  people 
only  dimly  surmise.  "The  prophets  are 
above  all  things  impassioned  seers  of  spirit- 
ual truth  and  preachers  of  religion,"  says 
Dr.  Sanday.  Is  it  not  the  realization  of 
truth  that  constitutes  for  any  of  us  genuine 
revelation?  Nothing  can  be  vital  to  us  until 
our  own  minds  grasp  it  as  a  new  reality. 
Then  it  lives;  then  it  warms;  then  it  moves 
to  action.  Is  it  not  this  same  Spirit  of  God 
working  in  us  which  forms  the  truth  of 
Scripture  now?  Otherwise,  would  not  the 
Bible  be  a  meaningless  book?  Where  there 
are  Spirit-filled  prophets  speaking  there 


THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    91 

must  be,  in  a  less  degree,  Spirit-filled  hearers 
receiving  (Psa.  44. 1). 

Wherever  truth  is  thus  born  in  man,  it 
brings  to  him  the  sense  of  divine  authority, 
for  all  real  truth  is  divine,  and  consequently 
from  God,  the  only  source.  He  who  dis- 
covers it  is  a  prophet  whose  burden  it  is  to 
declare  the  same.  Being  convinced  that  he 
is  in  possession  of  the  genuinely  true,  he 
speaks  with  a  prophet's  assurance  in  what- 
ever field  of  God's  great  realm  he  may  be  at 
work. 

PROPHETIC  MEANS  OF  INFILLING 

The  prophetic  records  show  that  the 
Divine  Spirit  used  various  means  of  obtain- 
ing recognition  in  the  life  of  the  prophets. 
Sometimes  it  was  by  means  of  entrancing 
music  (Saul),  dreams  (Joseph),  ecstasy 
(Balaam),  an  angel  of  the  Lord  (Daniel), 
prolonged  meditation  (Habakkuk),  some 
historic  crisis  (Isaiah),  or  by  direct  request 
(Elisha).  It  was  of  little  consequence 
whether  the  divine  manifestation  came  by 
means  of  dream,  vision,  angel,  or  ecstatic 
trance ;  it  was  all  equally  real  to  the  prophet, 


92  THE  PROPHETS 

and  equally  direct  from  God.  He  did  not 
analyze,  as  we  do,  his  thoughts,  feelings,  and 
convictions,  and  label  them  as  "psycho- 
logical occurrences"  stimulated  by  a  "direc- 
tive environment."  He  traced  every  event 
directly  to  Jehovah.  What  we  call  personal 
convictions  were  to  him  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord."  In  either  case,  in  the  last  analysis, 
it  is  the  pressure  of  God  in  the  life  taking 
active  form.  "For  it  is  God  which  worketh 
in  you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good 
pleasure"  (Phil.  2.  13).  It  is  well  to  re- 
member, however,  that  in  the  case  of  the 
great  prophets,  vision  is  the  usual  mode  of 
divine  illumination  (Prov.  29.  18;  Jer.  23. 
25;Isa.  6.  1-6). 

PROPHETIC  TEST  OF  ACCURACY 

What  shall  be  the  test  of  accuracy  for  us 
to-day?  The  ancient  prophet  and  his  peo- 
ple may  regard  "the  man  of  God"  divinely 
inspired  and  possessed  of  knowledge  which 
others  did  not  have.  But  how  may  we  now 
know  that  these  prophetic  records  in  the  Old 
Testament  truly  represent  the  mind  of 
God?  Such  questions  are  the  more  difficult 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    93 

since  a  perusal  of  prophetic  declarations 
reveals  the  fact  that  contemporaneous 
prophets  sometimes  contradicted  each  other, 
while  both  used  the  same  sacred  formula  to 
enforce  their  words,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord." 
A  clear  example  of  this  is  the  controversy 
of  the  prophet  Micaiah  with  the  prophets  of 
Ahab  in  connection  with  the  king's  war 
policy.  One  prophet  predicted  failure;  the 
others  in  a  body  predicted  success  (1  Kings 
22).  Another  conspicuous  instance  is  the 
conflict  between  the  prophet  Jeremiah  and 
Hananiah,  whose  messages  are  adverse  to 
each  other  (Jer.  28).  Yet,  each  prophet 
declared  boldly  in  the  temple,  before  the 
assembled  multitude,  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord,"  to  insure  his  hearers  that  his  mes- 
sage was  from  God.  Other  instances  might 
be  related.  In  these  accounts  it  is  evident 
that  the  ancient  hearers  were  puzzled  to 
know,  at  the  moment,  which  prophet  con- 
veyed the  mind  of  God.  Both,  of  course, 
could  not  be  correct,  since  they  opposed  each 
other.  It  is  true  that  we  to-day  know  them 
apart  as  the  true  and  the  false  prophets. 
But  who  was  to  tell  Ahab,  the  king  at  the 


94  THE  PROPHETS 

time,  who  was  God's  real  prophet?    How, 
then,  was  the  matter  decided? 

THE  SCRIPTURAL  FORMULA  FOR  TESTING 
TRUTH 

That  age,  as  does  this,  fell  back  upon  the 
practical  test  of  accuracy  and  soundness — 
Does  the  message  accord  with  fact  and 
truth?  That  is  the  ever-ready  test  of  au- 
thority, and  those  who  fail  in  meeting  it  are 
branded  as  lying  prophets,  even  though  their 
claims  be  lofty,  and  they  manifest  super- 
natural ability.  False  prophets,  no  less  than 
the  true,  claimed  divine  inspiration,  and 
miracles  were  even  attributed  to  them  (1 
Kings  13;  Deut.  3.  1-3).  Several  tests  of 
authority  are  offered  in  the  prophetic  writ- 
ings. The  first  is  found  in  Deut.  13.  1-4, 
and  reads  as  follows:  "If  there  arise  among 
you  a  prophet,  or  a  dreamer  of  dreams,  and 
giveth  thee  a  sign  or  a  wonder,  and  the  sign 
or  the  wonder  come  to  pass,  whereof  he 
spake  unto  thee,  saying,  Let  us  go  after 
other  gods,  which  thou  hast  not  known,  and 
let  us  serve  them;  Thou  shalt  not  hearken 
unto  the  words  of  that  prophet,  or  that 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    95 

dreamer  of  dreams:  for  the  Lord  your  God 
proveth  you,  to  know  whether  ye  love  the 
Lord  your  God  with  all  your  heart  and  with 
all  your  soul.  Ye  shall  walk  after  the  Lord 
your  God,  and  fear  him,  and  keep  his  com- 
mandments, and  obey  his  voice,  and  ye  shall 
serve  him,  and  cleave  unto  him." 

Three  conditions  are  here  required  of  theV 
prophet:  (1)  that  his  message  should  con- 
form to  well-known  standards  of  ethics  and 
religion;  (2)  that  his  claims  shall  be  backed 
by  a  genuinely  sound  and  good  life;  (3)  that 
that  which  he  predicts  shall  come  to  pass. 
That  is,  no  one  can  truly  represent  God  who 
contradicts  good  common  sense,  well-tested 
experience,  the  facts  of  nature,  and  ethical 
demands.  Prophets  like  Amos,  Isaiah,  and 
Jeremiah  met  these  tests.  Two  other  simi- 
lar tests  are  offered  (Deut.  18.  15-22;  Jer. 
28 ),  in  which  the  appeal  is  made  to  past  his- 
tory and  future  outcome. 

In  the  instance  noted  it  is  plain  that  the 
Hebrews  of  old  had  some  difficulty  in  mak- 
ing sure  which  prophet  spake  the  mind  of 
God  when  their  messages  were  at  variance 
with  each  other.  They,  as  we,  seem  to  have 


96  THE  PROPHETS 

lacked  a  ready-made  infallible  test.  It  is 
evident  that  the  prophetic  hearers  had  to 
use  their  own  God-given  intuition  and  ac- 
quired knowledge  in  the  discrimination  of 
truth  and  error  on  which  we  are  obliged  to 
rest.  Truth  usually  carries  the  day  by  its 
own  inherent  worth  when  lodged  in  human 
life.  The  prophets,  moreover,  seem  to  have 
possessed  no  lost  art  by  which  they  could  en- 
force truth  spoken.  Like  modern  men  of 
God,  the  ancient  prophets  relied  upon  ap- 
peals to  human  intelligence,  religious  needs, 
social  worth,  and  ancient  good  to  drive  home 
the  truth  uttered.  In  their  time,  truth,  as 
it  is  in  our  day,  was  self-attesting  and  ex- 
perientially  vindicated.  Believing  that  the 
God  who  voiced  himself  in  prophecy  would 
no  less  find  his  way  into  the  hearts  of  the 
hearers,  the  prophets  trusted  the  "word  of 
the  Lord"  to  move  the  men  of  Israel  as  it 
had  first  moved  them. 

MODERN  TEST  OF  AUTHORITY 

The  ability  to  demonstrate  that  the 
prophet  is  endowed  with  the  power  of  God 
is  confirmed  by  prophetic  records.  We  read 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    97 

in  1  Sam.  3.  20,  "All  Israel  from  Dan  even 
to  Beer-sheba  knew  that  Samuel  was  estab- 
lished to  be  a  prophet  of  the  Lord."  In 
verse  19  we  are  told  how  Israel  knew  this. 
"The  Lord  was  with  him,  and  did  let  none 
of  his  words  fall  to  the  ground."  The  mean- 
ing of  this  seems  to  be  that  Samuel  proved 
his  loyalty  to  God's  will  by  the  fruit  of  his 
life  and  work.  Furthermore,  it  seems  that 
the  early  prophets — Moses,  Elijah,  and 
Elisha — relied,  to  some  extent,  upon  the 
ability  to  perform  miracles  (1  Kings  18.  24) 
as  a  test  of  their  authority  to  speak  for  God. 
The  later  prophets,  however,  do  not  rely 
upon  wonder-works  to  enforce  their  claims 
of  divine  authority.  Amos,  Isaiah,  Hosea, 
Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel  rarely  perform  mir- 
acles (Isa.  20).  In  Jeremiah's  time  there 
is  warning  against  accepting  signs  and  won- 
ders as  proof  that  one  speaks  God's  word 
(Deut.  13.  2-4) .  Here  two  significant  tests 
are  suggested:  (1)  Is  the  word  which  is 
spoken  true  to  experience  in  that  it  makes 
for  human  well-being?  (2)  Is  the  speaker 
manifesting  good  will,  that  is,  the  will  to  be 
good  and  to  do  good?  Truth  and  goodness, 


98  THE  PROPHETS 

then,  are  the  fundamental  tests  of  the  man 
of  God,  ancient  or  modern.  There  is  no 
higher  test  of  authority  than  conformity  to 
truth.  And  there  is  that  instinctive  element 
of  truth  in  every  man's  heart  which  will  an- 
swer to  the  truth  in  the  author's  heart. 

How  shall  we  be  able  to  distinguish  the 
permanent  and  genuine  in  prophecy  from 
the  passing  and  superficial?  We  possess  the 
innate  test  of  our  divine  nature  which,  like 
a  sixth  sense,  weathers  the  approaching  gale. 
How  often  it  is  said  that  if  any  portion  of 
the  Bible  is  admitted  to  be  untrustworthy, 
none  of  it  is  dependable.  Such  reasoning  is 
poor  logic,  worse  practice,  and  bad  religion. 
We  neither  argue  thus  nor  act  so  in  prac- 
tical concerns  of  life. 

A  counterfeit  dollar  does  not  invalidate 
all  money.  There  are  ways  of  testing  the 
genuine  in  every  line ;  no  less  in  religion  than 
in  rubles.  The  prophets  made  their  appeal 
to  the  Hebrew  conscience  in  reply  to  false 
prophets  whose  messages  failed  to  conform 
to  well-known  moral  standards  and  long 
since  accepted  revelations  of  God  ( Jer.  14. 
13-22).  To  some  this  seems  too  uncertain. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY    99 

Authority  must  be  definite.  We  naturally 
like  to  feel  secure  in  a  doctrine  of  prophecy 
which  admits  of  no  flaw.  The  doctrine  of 
the  inerrancy  of  the  Bible  would  be  com- 
forting if  only  it  were  manageable.  Pro- 
fessor B  or  den  P.  Bowne  has  summarized  the 
matter  in  this  terse  manner: 

"If  the  doctrine  [inerrancy  of  the  Bible] 
is  important,  we  are  in  a  bad  way,  because 
we  have  no  inerrant  Bible  at  present.  If 
we  grant  the  doctrine,  we  can  make  nothing 
of  it,  and  we  are  as  badly  off  with  it  as  with- 
out it."  The  prophetic  records  make  no  in- 
fallible claim  for  themselves,  nor  does  life 
call  for  such  a  record.  But  life  discovers 
in  them  something  that  is  infinitely  better, 
inspired  and  inspiring  personalities;  for  in- 
stance, the  grimly  righteous  Amos,  the  effec- 
tively pleading  Hosea,  the  eloquently  hope- 
ful Isaiah.  Catching  the  spirit  of  such  men, 
even  now,  across  the  gap  of  time,  fires  the 
soul  of  modern  man,  casts  a  divine  spell  over 
his  heart,  and  fills  him  with  the  prophetic 
ardor.  This  is  the  best  of  authority,  the 
authority  of  God's  presence  in  life  being 
realized  day  by  day,  and  ringing  true  to  the 


100  THE  PROPHETS 

rock-bottom  facts  of  life.  Whatever  min- 
isters blessings  to  man,  furthers  his  normal 
well-being,  and  stands  the  test  of  time,  can- 
not be  far  wrong.  It  must  be  of  God,  even 
though  its  form  and  application  change  from 
age  to  age. 

Thus  Whittier  must  have  thought  when 
he  wrote : 

"I  looked :  aside  the  dust-cloud  rolled — 

The  waster  seemed  the  builder  too ; 
Upspringing  from  the  ruined  old 
I  saw  the  new. 

"Take  heart !  the  waster  builds  again — 

A  charmed  life  old  goodness  hath ; 
The  tares  may  perish — but  the  grain 
Is  not  for  death." 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  101 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
PERSONALITY 

JOHN  RUSKIN'S  message,  reiterated  in  a 
thousand  ways,  which  he  held  up  before  the 
last  generation,  runs  thus:  "Goodness  is 
more  than  gold,  and  character  outweighs  in- 
tellect." Personality  is  God's  greatest 
achievement  for  man  since  it  conditions  all 
genuine  worth.  The  Old  Testament  litera- 
ture bears  the  impress  of  various  types  of 
personality.  To  anyone  who  reads  the  Old 
Testament  it  will  appear  that  God  used  at 
least  four  distinct  types  of  persons  to  pro- 
duce its  books.  Any  book  or  chapter  which 
may  be  read  is  the  product  of  one  of  the 
following  classes  of  persons:  the  priest,  the 
philosopher  (wise  man),  the  poet,  and  the 
prophet.  These  represent,  on  the  whole, 
persons  of  temperamental  differences,  life- 
long divergence  in  training,  interests,  and 
associations.  They  represent  also  different 
functions  in  Hebrew  life.  Hence  it  may  be 


102  THE  PROPHETS 

said  that  God  used  the  four  P's  to  give  us 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures — 

Priest 

Philosopher 

Poet 

Prophet. 

"For  the  law  shall  not  perish  from  the 
priest,  nor  counsel  from  the  wise,  nor  the 
word  from  the  prophet"  (Jer.  18.  18). 

THE  HEBREW  PRIEST 

The  priest,  under  God,  was  the  custodian 
of  law  and  worship.  His  interest  was  (1) 
in  the  temple,  its  altars,  sacrifices,  offerings, 
feasts,  fasts,  and  rites;  (2)  in  the  formation, 
preservation,  and  administration  of  law  and 
custom.  His  services  were  indispensable 
to  Hebrew  society.  From  birth  to  death  the 
priest's  hand  touched  every  practical  inter- 
est of  Hebrew  life.  Hence,  priestly  writ- 
ings were  short  and  choppy,  prosaic  and 
legal.  The  seldom  read  book  of  Leviticus 
is  the  best  example  of  his  style  of  writing. 
It  might  be  said  of  Leviticus,  as  the  Irish- 
man said  of  the  dictionary,  "It  is  interesting 
reading,  but  it  changes  subject  so  often." 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  103 

THE  HEBREW  SAGE 

The  philosopher,  called  by  Israel  "the 
wise  man"  (Prov.  1.  5;  13.  20),  was  the  cus- 
todian of  the  people's  thought  life.  God 
used  these  quiet  thinkers  to  guide  the  com- 
mon people's  outlook  upon  life  as  a  whole. 
The  wise  men  usually  sat  in  the  market  place 
by  the  gate  of  ancient  walled  cities  where 
people  congregated  (Prov.  31.  23)  and 
where  they  could  be  consulted  on  matters 
vital  to  life's  meaning.  There  they  were 
plied  with  such  questions  as:  "What  is  right 
and  good  for  me?"  "What  is  my  duty?" 
"From  whence  did  all  things  come?"  (Book 
of  Proverbs.)  "What  kind  of  woman 
would  be  an  ideal  wife?"  (Proverbs  31.) 
"What  is  the  highest  good  in  life?" 
(Ecclesiastes.)  "Upon  what  basis  does  the 
good  God  rule  the  world,  seeing  that  the  un- 
deserving often  suffer?"  (Job.)  In  daily 
life  the  wise  men's  counsel  was,  "Practice 
moderation  in  all  things." 

THE  HEBREW  POET 

The  poet's  function  was  to  minister  chiefly 
to  the  emotions.  He  touched  the  springs  of 


104  THE  PROPHETS 

feeling  and  guided  them  to  God,  as  the  wise 
man  did  the  intellect.  His  poetry  begins 
with  God,  continues  with  God,  and  ends 
with  God;  whether  the  occasion  be  that  of 
a  starlit  night  (Psa.  8)  or  a  golden  sunrise 
(Psa.  19),  a  furious  storm  (Psa.  29)  or  a 
frightful  earthquake  (Psa.  114),  the  home- 
sickness of  the  captive  (Psa.  137)  or  a  sense 
of  pastoral  security  (Psa.  23).  The  book 
of  Psalms,  therefore,  became  Israel's  song- 
book  in  the  worship  of  the  temple.  On  feast 
days  and  Sabbaths,  pilgrimages  and  con- 
quests, the  people  expressed  their  divine 
emotions  by  means  of  song  (Pilgrim  Song, 
Psa.  126,  Dedication  Song,  Psa.  118). 

THE  HEBREW  PROPHET 

The  prophet,  under  God,  was  Israel's 
custodian  of  the  revelation  of  Jehovah.  To 
him  were  intrusted  the  oracles.  He  was  a 
preacher  of  righteousness;  a  seer  who  saw 
clearly.  He  declared  the  message  which 
stirred  to  moral  action.  The  prophet,  there- 
fore, represented  a  unique  personality  which 
combined  insight,  foresight,  inspiration,  and 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  105 

action.    He  stood  as  Israel's  gifted  spokes- 
man for  Jehovah  (Amos  3.  8). 

Since  the  prophet's  teachings  were  the 
outgrowth  of  his  personality,  let  us  consider 
for  a  moment  the  individual  traits  of  the 
prophets.  Their  personalities  vary  greatly 
from  each  other.  The  prophets  differed  in 
looks,  manners,  temperaments,  education, 
and  methods  much  as  do  ministers  of  our 
time.  They  were  markedly,  even  radically 
unlike. 

THE  RELENTLESS  AMOS 

Nathan  was  brusque  (2  Sam.  12) ;  Gad 
was  pliable  (2  Sam.  24.  11-14) ;  Samuel  was 
gentle  and  excitable  (1  Sam.  8.  1-15;  15.  8- 
33) ;  Elijah  was  dramatic  and  rash  (1  Kings 
18.  40;  19.  4);  Elisha  was  dignified  and 
diplomatic  (2  Kings  4.  38-44;  9.  1-11). 
The  writing  prophets,  as  they  are  styled, 
have  left  us  more  material  from  which  to 
judge,  so  that  we  are  able  to  form  a  clearer 
estimate  of  their  personalities.  Amos,  the 
shepherd  prophet  from  the  Tekoan  hills, 
reared  among  crags  and  crannies,  living  in 
desert  and  dell,  facing  wild  beasts  and  wily 


106  THE  PROPHETS 

men,  distilled  these  fierce  elements  into  his 
character.  Hence  he  was  a  man  of  rugged 
strength,  and  liquid  iron  flowed  in  his  veins. 
As  a  prophet  he  was  severe,  relentless,  and 
uncompromising.  Even  the  age  in  which 
he  lived  (B.  C.  760)  was  markejd  by  severity. 
He  was  a  John  Calvin  of  his  day  and  knew 
no  compromise.  With  him  it  was  as  with 
Calvin — doom  or  discipline.  He  must  have 
"roared"  his  message  like  a  "roaring  lion," 
for  he  opened  his  first  sermon  with,  "The 
Lord  will  roar  from  Zion,  .  .  .  and  the  top 
of  Carmel  shall  wither"  (1.  2).  Thus  by 
character  he  was  God's  ready  scourge  to 
Israel.  He  proclaimed  the  then  much- 
needed  message  of  the  God  of  stern  right- 
eousness, whose  very  innermost  nature  he 
pictured  as  justice  and  law.  Although  there 
was  not  a  soft  touch  in  Amos's  make-up, 
Israel  had  need  of  this  fire-eating  prophet. 

THE  LOVELORN  HOSEA 

Hosea,  his  companion  prophet  of  the 
north,  was  totally  unlike  Amos.  He  had 
been  disciplined  in  the  school  of  desperate 
love  and  bitter  disappointment.  Therefore, 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  107 

his  eloquence  was  "logic  set  on  fire."  Early 
in  his  life  he  fell  in  love  with  a  coquettish, 
vivacious  girl,  called  Gomer,  whom  he  mar- 
ried. For  a  time  they  were  apparently  very 
happy  together,  but  at  length  another  stole 
his  wife's  affection  and  became  father  to  the 
third  child.  When  the  shameful  secret 
leaked  out,  the  guilty  pair  eloped  (Hos. 
1-2).  The  prophet's  heart  was  torn  and 
bleeding.  He  still  loved  his  fickle  and  un- 
faithful wife,  and  at  length  sought  her  and 
brought  her  back  from  her  degrading  slavery 
(3.  2).  The  whole  tenor  of  his  writing  re- 
veals a  man  of  affectionate  nature,  shy  and 
shrinking  disposition,  indulgent  tenderness, 
and  flaming  emotions.  Out  of  a  broken 
heart  Hosea  pleaded  with  Israel  to  be  faith- 
ful to  her  husband,  Jehovah,  who  loved  her 
tenderly  (6-7).  Having  experienced  the 
pangs  of  a  broken  heart  by  the  wayward 
conduct  of  his  wife,  there  burst  upon  him 
the  profound  significance  of  the  love-rela- 
tion existing  between  Jehovah  and  Israel. 
Hence  this  love-prophet  was  best  fitted  to 
convey  to  man  the  love  of  God.  To  him  the 
cardinal  trait  of  Jehovah  was  affection. 


108  THE  PROPHETS 

Love  had  been  the  deepest  note  in  his  own 
life.  Could  it  well  be  otherwise  with  God? 
Accordingly,  to  him  the  meanest  of  all  sins 
was  unrequited  love.  After  all,  is  not  love- 
lessness  the  blackest  of  all  sins  whether  be- 
tween man  and  man  or  God  and  man?  Not 
to  love  is  not  to  live.  As  a  present  writer 
has  expressed  it  in  his  book  entitled,  What 
Men  Live  By,  "Real  life,  then,  if  it  is  to 
mean  the  nourishing,  sustaining,  and  de- 
veloping of  existence,  demands  work,  play, 
and  love."1 

THE  BRILLIANT  ISAIAH 

The  most  striking,  brilliant,  and  versatile 
of  all  the  prophets  was  the  princely  Isaiah, 
the  son  of  Amoz.  He  was  highly  gifted  by 
birthright  and  training.  His  was  the  be- 
stowment  of  a  large  mold  and  rich  surround- 
ings. He  seems  even  to  have  had  royal 
blood  coursing  in  his  veins,  and  to  have 
moved  all  of  his  life  in  the  cultured  circles 
of  Hebrew  society.  He  must  have  received 
a  finished  education,  for  his  manner,  speech, 


1  Richard  C.  Cabot,  What  Men  Live  By,  p.  xv. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  109 

and  bearing  show  him  to  have  been  cultured 
to  the  very  fingertips.  We  may  picture  the 
average  prophet  as  crude  and  crusty,  rude 
and  rugged,  with  shaggy  eyebrows  and  long 
hair,  horny  hands  and  weather-beaten  vis- 
age; which  would  be  a  fairly  accurate  de- 
scription of  most  of  them.  The  brilliant 
Isaiah,  however,  was  not  such  an  one.  He 
would  have  resembled  in  appearance,  man- 
ner, and  speech  one  of  our  modern,  refined 
city  preachers,  always  neatly  groomed. 

Jehovah  had  been  lavish  with  this  favorite 
son  of  Jerusalem,  whom  he  had  cradled  in 
wealth  and  reared  in  the  lap  of  luxury. 
None  had  been  endowed  with  greater  ver- 
satility than  he.  Isaiah  manifested  brilliant 
gifts  in  many  directions,  any  one  of  which 
would  entitle  him  to  recognition  and  mark 
him  as  a  man  of  distinction.  Isaiah  was 
preacher  and  reformer,  poet  and  painter, 
composer  and  singer,  statesman  and  orator, 
educator  and  instigator,  dramatist  and 
strategist.  He  was  likewise  brilliant  and 
persistent,  intense  and  sustained,  lofty  and 
daring,  graceful  and  diplomatic.  It  is 
hardly  too  extravagant  to  say  that  Isaiah 


110  THE  PROPHETS 

possessed  the  best  gifts  of  all  the  other 
prophets:  the  faith  of  Abraham,  the  leader- 
ship of  Moses,  the  dash  of  Joshua,  the  bold- 
ness of  Nathan,  the  popularity  of  David, 
the  wisdom  of  Solomon,  the  severity  of 
Amos,  the  passion  of  Hosea,  the  spirituality 
of  Jeremiah,  the  resourcefulness  of  Ezekiel, 
the  statesmanship  of  Nehemiah,  the  vision 
of  Daniel,  and  the  irony  of  Jonah. 

Above  all  else  Isaiah  was  Israel's  most 
gifted  orator  and  polished  preacher.  Never 
before  had  any  voice  plied  so  well  the  He- 
brew speech  as  his.  He  was  to  Jerusalem 
what  Savonarola  was  to  Florence,  what 
Luther  was  to  Germany  or  Wesley  to  Eng- 
land. From  his  eloquent  lips  poured  forth 
the  speech  of  Canaan  like  water  from  a 
fountain.  His  sentences  are  saturated  with 
a  wealth  of  metaphors,  a  profusion  of  fig- 
ures, a  richness  of  graceful  phrases,  and  a 
range  of  vocabulary  which  bewilders,  aye, 
even  at  times  paralyzes  his  hearers.  Read, 
for  instance,  the  first  six  chapters  of  his  book 
and  feel,  even  through  the  English  transla- 
tion, the  power,  grace,  and  beauty  of  his 
matchless  speech. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  111 

Who  can  ever  shake  the  spell  of  Isaiah, 
once  he  has  come  under  his  magic  words? 
Every  Bible  lover  will  recall  at  once  the 
sixth  chapter  of  Isaiah,  one  of  the  loftiest 
in  the  Old  Testament.  "I  saw  also  the  Lord 
sitting  upon  a  throne,  high  and  lifted  up, 
and  his  train  filled  the  temple.  .  .  .  Then 
said  I,  Woe  is  me!  for  I  am  undone;  be- 
cause I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I 
dwell  in  the  midst  of  a  people  of  unclean 
lips:  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  the 
Lord  of  hosts."  He  takes  one  into  the  very 
presence  of  the  living  God  where  no  evil 
can  abide.  The  charm  of  his  spirit  abides. 
The  reputation  of  Ulysses  at  the  court  of 
Troy,  "No  mortal  then  would  dare  to  strive 
with  him  for  mastery  in  speech,"  applies  to 
the  gifted  Isaiah. 

THE  TRAGIC  JEREMIAH 

In  Jeremiah  we  reach  the  summit  of 
prophetic  greatness  and  power.  Notwith- 
standing his  gifted  and  brilliant  personality, 
Isaiah  did  not  possess  the  iron  logic  of 
Amos,  the  originality  of  Micah,  or  the  keen 


112  THE  PROPHETS 

insight  of  Jeremiah.  Never  again,  until  in 
Christ,  did  prophecy  reach  his  level.  The 
torrential  Isaiah  did  not  leave  much  original 
work.  He  mainly  borrowed  from  others  and 
cast  their  thoughts  into  new  expressions  in 
his  own  liquid  style  of  utterance.  Jeremiah, 
on  the  other  hand,  though  less  flowing  and 
less  prosaic  than  Isaiah,  was  far  more  origi- 
nal and  spiritual,  blunt  and  precise.  Jere- 
miah was  as  passionate  as  Hosea  and  as 
logical  as  Amos.  His  solitary  figure  towers 
over  his  time  like  a  colossus,  too  great  to  be 
appreciated  by  men  of  his  age.  A  strange 
and  turbulent  nature  was  his.  He  experi- 
enced the  painful  loneliness  of  genius.  He 
was  often  torn  between  conflicting  emotions 
of  duty  and  seclusion,  taste  and  obligation, 
ambition  to  preach  the  word  and  a  sensi- 
tiveness to  criticism.  "Oh  that  my  head 
were  waters,"  he  would  bitterly  cry  out, 
"and  mine  eyes  a  fountain  of  tears,  that  I 
might  weep  day  and  night  for  the  slain  of 
the  daughter  of  my  people!  Oh  that  I  had 
in  the  wilderness  a  lodging  place  of  wayfar- 
ing men;  that  I  might  leave  my  people,  and 
go  from  them!"  (9.  1-2.) 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  113 

Jeremiah  was  by  nature  affectionate  and 
tender  as  a  woman  and,  therefore,  shrank 
from  the  prophetic  task  of  playing  the  role 
of  muckraker.  Yet,  he  never  left  his  post 
nor  ceased  his  preaching.  He  clung  to  his 
duty  with  grim  desperation;  never  letting 
go,  though  he  pined  for  quietude.  Duty  and 
divine  command  were  to  this  man  more  im- 
perative than  natural  taste  and  personal 
inclination.  Because  he  had  a  keen  mind 
and  a  tender  heart,  depth  of  feeling  and 
breadth  of  mind,  his  was  a  life  at  once 
heroic  and  pathetic,  dramatic  and  tragic 
(see  10.  19;  8.  18-21;  18.  19-23;  20.  14). 
He  lived  a  life  of  perpetual  martyrdom  for 
the  cause  of  Jehovah,  although  he  preferred 
the  scholar's  seclusion. 

His  personal  sufferings  at  the  hands  of 
his  countrymen  were  greater  than  those  of 
any  other  prophet,  for  Jeremiah  lived  in  a 
turbulent  age  when  boundaries  of  empires 
were  shifting  and  the  whole  Eastern  world 
was  in  volcanic  eruption  from  the  Euphrates 
to  the  Nile.  Little  Judah  was  situated  in 
the  very  center  of  the  international  crater. 
Thus,  this  prophet's  life  imbibed  the  turmoil 


114  THE  PROPHETS 

of  his  age.  He  too  became  at  times  turbu- 
lent. In  turn,  he  would  scold,  plead, 
threaten  his  people;  then  he  would  as  sud- 
denly talk  with  God  and  make  excuses  for 
them;  curse  his  own  life;  meekly  repent; 
boldly  stiffen  up,  face  his  persecutors  with 
"As  for  me,  behold,  I  am  in  your  hand:  do 
unto  me  as  seemeth  good  and  meet  unto 
you,"  when  his  life  was  threatened  (26.  14). 
Nevertheless,  with  all  his  puzzling  contra- 
dictions, Jeremiah  was  always  grand,  crea- 
tive, and  courageous  (31.  16-19). 

He  it  is,  therefore,  who  is  best  fitted  to 
give  the  highest  and  fullest  revelation  of 
God  which  is  to  be  found  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment. Jeremiah  (1)  spiritualized  God  (10. 
8-16) ;  (2)  purified  worship  (7.  1-7) ;  (3) 
deepened  the  sense  of  sin  (17.  9-11);  (4) 
gave  the  death  blow  to  idolatry  (10.  14-16) ; 
(5)  declared  for  individual  responsibility 
(31.  29-33) ;  and  (6)  prepared  his  people 
for  the  impending  national  ruin,  so  that  they 
could  survive  destruction  of  state  and 
church,  loss  of  land  and  ruin  of  temple,  with- 
out surrendering  the  essentials  of  their  faith 
(see  6.  18-20;  14.  11-12;  17.  9-10;  31.  16- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  115 

33) .  It  was  a  great  work  that  this  prophet 
accomplished  in  spite  of  many  and  terrible 
oppositions  that  would  have  crushed  lesser 
men. 

Jeremiah's  earthly  reward  was  disap- 
pointing. He  was  banished  from  the  temple 
precincts  (36.  5-6),  imprisoned  (chs.  26, 
32,  37,  38),  his  life  threatened  (chs.  20,  26, 
38),  his  family  torn  from  him  and  his  home 
confiscated  (10.  20),  charged  with  treason 
(chs.  26,  38),  his  literary  productions  de- 
stroyed (ch.  36),  and  at  length  he  himself 
kidnaped  and  carried  by  force  to  Egypt, 
where  his  last  sermons  were  preached  (ch. 
43) .  Jeremiah's  cup  of  bitterness  was  filled 
to  the  brim  (20.  14).  Jewish  tradition  adds 
that  he  was  murdered  in  Egypt  and  his 
bones  left  to  bleach  on  the  sands  of  the  Nile. 
Inasmuch  as  his  religious  contribution  to 
humanity  is  immense  and  imperishable,  can 
one  say  that  he  was  wholly  without  reward? 
His  great  ideas,  centuries  ahead  of  his  time, 
molded  later  Jewish  thought  profoundly. 
Jesus  himself  must  have  been  strongly  at- 
tracted by  Jeremiah's  sermons,  which  he 
read  in  the  Old  Testament,  for  Jesus  quotes 


116  THE  PROPHETS 

him  freely  (see  Matt.  2.  17;  16.  14;  27.  9; 
Mark  7.  21;  compare  Jer.  17.  9;  29.  12;  16. 
14;  Luke  6.  45).  Some  of  Jesus's  teaching 
so  much  resembled  that  of  Jeremiah  that  the 
people  believed  the  ancient  prophet  had  re- 
appeared (Matt.  16.  14). 

THE  SENSATIONAL  EZEKIEL 

The  prophet  Ezekiel,  who  must  have  been 
a  young  priestly  student  in  the  palmy  days 
of  Jeremiah,  no  doubt  had  his  youthful  soul 
kindled  to  a  prophetic  flame  as  he  listened  to 
this  forceful  preacher  of  righteousness.  At 
any  rate,  Ezekiel  seems  to  have  imbibed  a 
goodly  portion  of  Jeremiah's  spirit  as  well 
as  the  greater  part  of  his  teachings.  It  was 
left  for  this  young  prophetic  follower,  how- 
ever, to  apply  his  creative  teacher's  ideas 
under  new  and  trying  conditions  in  the  land 
of  captivity.  When  scattered  like  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  torn  from  native  land, 
denied  the  temple  courts  and  sacrifices,  and 
separated  from  the  presence  of  Jehovah, 
then  it  was  that  Ezekiel,  by  applying  the 
living  ideas  of  Jeremiah,  saved  Israel  from 
infidelity. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  117 

Ezekiel's  was  a  very  practical  ministry 
during  the  troublous  days  of  the  captivity. 
The  Hebrews  were  homesick  and  doubting, 
as  the  sacred  poetry  composed  in  that  period 
reflects.  "By  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  there 
we  sat  down,  yea,  we  wept,  when  we  re- 
membered Zion.  We  hanged  our  harps 
upon  the  willows  in  the  midst  thereof"  (Psa. 
137.  1,  2).  "My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even 
f ainteth  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord :  my  heart 
and  my  flesh  crieth  out  for  the  living  God" 
(Psa.  84.  2).  "When  shall  I  come  and  ap- 
pear before  God?  My  tears  have  been  my 
meat  day  and  night,  while  they  continually 
say  unto  me,  Where  is  thy  God?"  (Psa.  42. 
2,  3).  No  wonder  that  in  this  discouraged 
and  dejected  state  of  mind  the  skeptical 
captives  taunted  the  prophet  by  saying, 
"The  Lord  hath  forsaken  the  earth,  and 
the  Lord  seeth  not"  (Ezek.  9.  9),  and 
"The  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  equal" 
(Ezek.  18.  25). 

Ezekiel,  like  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  was 
evidently  highly  educated,  and,  like  his  il- 
lustrious predecessor,  Jeremiah,  he  was  a 
literary  man  (Ezek.  1.  3).  "An  hand  was 


118  THE  PROPHETS 

sent  unto  me;  and,  lo,  a  roll  of  a  book  was 
therein;  and  he  spread  it  before  me;  and 
it  was  written  within  and  without:  .  .  .  eat 
this  roll,  and  go  speak"  (Ezek.  2.  9,  10;  3. 
1 ) .  We  have  here  probably  a  reference  to 
the  written  sermons  of  Jeremiah,  which  this 
captivity  prophet  diligently  studied  and 
used.  Ezekiel  was  what  we  might  term  a 
sensational  preacher.  He  is  found  making 
liberal  use  of  parables  (chs.  15,  16,  19) ; 
visions — for  instance,  eating  scroll  (ch.  2), 
chambers  of  imagery  (ch.  8),  destroying 
weapons  (ch.  9),  cherubim  (ch.  10),  dry 
bones  (ch.  37),  and  his  lengthy  vision  of  the 
future  temple  (chs.  40-48) ;  realistic  imper- 
sonations— such  as  mimic  siege  (ch.  4),  pub- 
licly shaving  his  head  (ch.  5) ,  temple  secrets 
revealed  (ch.  8),  mock  removal  of  his  furni- 
ture (ch.  12).  He  was  also  a  great  pastor 
and  teacher  (ch.  24),  gathering  about  him 
the  captives  and  diligently  instructing  them 
in  the  lofty  prophetic  religion.  No  other 
prophet  was  more  resourceful,  patient,  dili- 
gent, methodical,  and  practical,  than  Eze- 
kiel. He  was  a  solid  preacher  in  a  sad  situ- 
ation. No  one  could  have  met  the  needs  of 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  119 

the  captives  better  than  he  with  his  "pleasant 
voice"  and  "lovely  song"  (33.  32) . 

THE  LACONICALLY  BLUNT  MICAH 

Of  the  remaining  prophets  so  very  little 
is  known  that  it  is  impossible  to  say  much 
about  their  personal  traits.  We  can  only 
infer  from  their  meager  writings  which  are 
left  to  us  the  character  of  these  prophets. 
The  prophet  Micah,  a  contemporary  of 
Isaiah,  must  have  been  a  poor  country 
preacher  (1.  1;  7.  1),  but  was  full  of  vigor 
and  convincing  speech,  able  to  condense  reli- 
gion into  a  single  expression  so  striking  as 
to  be  still  quoted  for  its  terseness  and  exact- 
ness. "Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the 
Lord?  .  .  .  Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with 
thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thousand 
rivers  of  oil?  .  .  .  He  hath  showed  thee,  O 
man,  what  is  good ;  and  what  doth  the  Lord 
require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?" 
(6.  6,  8.)  So  deeply  did  Micah  impress  his 
words  on  Judah  that  the  generation  of  the 
following  century  recalled  his  words  (Jer. 


120  THE  PROPHETS 

26.  18).    He  was  grim  and  blunt,  poor  and 
powerful. 

THE  GREAT  UNKNOWN 

The  great  unknown  prophet  who 
preached  his  sermons  of  consolation  during 
the  later  period  of  the  Babylonian  captivity 
of  Israel,  and  whose  sermons  have  been  in- 
corporated in  the  book  of  Isaiah  (chs.  40- 
55),  was  a  flaming  optimist.  His  messages 
were  of  hope  and  cheer,  full  of  grace  and 
beauty.  As  he  had  passed  into  the  crucible 
of  Israel's  suffering,  his  spirit  had  been 
finely  tempered.  Compassion,  meekness,  and 
hopefulness  radiated  from  his  fruitful  soul 
as  fragrance  from  a  rose.  He  did  not  scold 
like  Amos,  nor  condemn  as  Hosea,  nor  de- 
nounce like  Isaiah,  nor  plead  like  Jeremiah. 
He  consoled,  encouraged,  and  comforted  the 
crushed  spirits  and  bleeding  hearts  of  the 
captives.  "Comfort  ye,  comfort  ye  my  peo- 
ple" (Isa.  40.  1).  "Hast  thou  not  known? 
hast  thou  not  heard,  that  the  everlasting 
God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary? 
He  giveth  power  to  the  faint"  (Isa.  40.  28, 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  121 

29).  Here  we  listen  to  a  new  note  in  He- 
brew prophecy,  made  necessary  in  order  to 
meet  the  changed  conditions  of  scattered  life 
and  shattered  hope  and  strained  belief. 
"Speak  ye  comfortably  to  Jerusalem,  and 
cry  unto  her,  that  her  warfare  is  accom- 
plished, that  her  iniquity  is  pardoned"  (40. 
2) .  Such  was  the  burden  of  the  message  of 
this  inspired  soul  to  the  conscience  of  weary 
men,  hungry  for  soothing  words  from  the 
heights  of  God. 

The  God  who  sends  the  biting  winds  also 
wafts  the  balmy  breezes.  He  who  sent  the 
fire-eating  Amos  also  sent  the  gentle 
"Second  Isaiah" — as  he  is  sometimes  called. 
He  tempers  the  wind  to  the  shorn  lamb. 
The  timeliness  of  this  prophetic  message  was 
justified  by  the  temper  of  the  age.  Three 
classes  of  Hebrew  hearers  could  profit  there- 
by— the  apostates  (Ezek.  20;  Isa.  45),  the 
indifferentists  (Isa.  48),  and  the  faithful  de- 
spondents  (Isa.  51) .  He  had  a  message  for 

all. 

THE  CHURCH-BUILDER  PROPHETS 

The  two  church-builders  of  the  restora- 
tion, Haggai  and  Zechariah,  who  struggled 


122  THE  PROPHETS 

to  rebuild  the  temple,  which  had  lain  in 
ruins  for  two  generations,  give  us  a  glimpse 
of  the  returned  captives — poor,  disap- 
pointed, and  faithless  (Hag.  1;  Zech.  1). 
Twenty  years  after  the  return  from  Babylon 
these  prophets  found  the  temple  still  in 
ruins  and  the  people  still  protesting  that 
"The  time  is  not  come,  the  time  that  the 
Lord's  house  should  be  built"  (Hag.  1.  2). 
These  prophets  delivered  a  series  of  rousing 
sermons  upbraiding  the  people  for  dwelling 
in  "ceiled  houses"  while  the  house  of  the 
Lord  lay  "waste"  (Hag.  1.  4).  These 
prophets  placed  patriotism  and  piety  before 
private  gain.  The  smothered  spiritual  flame 
was  rekindled  into  flaming  enthusiasm. 
Consequently,  in  B.  C.  516,  as  a  result  of 
prophetic  activity,  the  second  temple  was 
dedicated,  and  once  more  a  monument  had 
been  erected  to  Jehovah's  honor.  The  one 
hundred  and  eighteenth  psalm  was  com- 
posed and  used  for  the  dedicatory  service; 
an  immense  chorus  sang  it  grandly:  "O  give 
thanks  unto  the  Lord;  for  he  is  good:  .  .  . 
Open  to  me  the  gates  of  righteousness:  I 
will  go  into  them." 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  123 

THE  IMPETUOUS  MALACHI 

In  the  degenerate  days,  nearly  a  century 
after  the  captives  had  returned,  and  shortly 
before  Ezra's  reformation  in  B.  C.  445, 
Malachi,  which  means  "my  messenger," 
raised  his  prophetic  voice.  Judging  from 
the  book  of  Malachi,  he  must  have  been  a 
frank,  bold,  impetuous,  and  sentimental 
prophet.  He  is  lacking,  however,  in  the  old 
prophetic  grandeur,  freedom,  and  grace 
which  had  marked  the  preexile  preachers. 
He,  nevertheless,  met  the  social  and  religious 
conditions  of  his  age  with  timely  words.  He 
dealt  in  the  main  with  practical  and  local 
problems,  such  as  proper  sacrifices  (1.  6- 
11),  priestly  abuses  (2.  1-10),  stingy  giving 
(3.  7-12),  religious  experience  (3.  13;  4.  3), 
and  with  the  results  of  skepticism  (4.  4-6). 

THE  HUMORIST  JONAH 

The  unique  little  prophet,  whose  sermons 
are  recorded  in  the  book  of  Jonah,  is  an 
enigma.  He  seems  to  have  appeared  late 
in  the  Old  Testament  history.  His  message 
ridicules  Jewish  national  narrowness.  He 


124  THE  PROPHETS 

stands  out  as  the  only  prophet  of  a  humorous 
vein.  As  the  Hebrew  mind  was  essentially 
serious,  and  seldom  given  to  joking,  it  is  the 
more  surprising  to  find  a  prophet  of  wit. 
We  often  fail  to  grasp  the  great  significance 
of  this  prophet's  message  because  we  are  apt 
to  treat  this  book  as  a  joke.  Jonah  is  not 
only  a  rare  entertainer,  but  also  a  preacher 
with  a  fine  message.  He  contends  that  God's 
revelations  are  not  for  private  monopoly. 
Gifts  must  be  shared ;  God's  truth  is  as  wide 
as  the  seas  and  as  urgent  as  human  needs. 
"The  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare." 

THE  PENSIVE  DANIEL 

The  prophet  whose  message  is  found  in 
the  early  chapters  of  the  book  of  Daniel  (1- 
6)  is  preeminently  a  prophet  of  fidelity.  He 
can  trust  even  where  there  is  no  visible 
ground  for  certainty.  He  can  abide  God's 
hour  when  the  sky  is  dark  and  all  goes  dead 
wrong.  The  burden  of  his  message  is  this: 
Trust  God  and  he  will  keep  you  unharmed 
in  lion's  den  or  fiery  furnace,  for  God  is 
stronger  than  evil;  he  cares  for  his  own  with 
infinite  tenderness.  A  great  message  was 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  125 

this  in  the  troublous  days  of  Antiochus  Epi- 
phanes's  religious  persecutions  of  the  Jew. 

THE  PROPHET  OF  JUDGMENT 

The  rest  of  the  prophets — Zephaniah, 
Nahum,  Habakkuk,  and  Joel — played 
minor  parts  in  Hebrew  and  Jewish  history. 
Next  to  nothing  is  known  of  their  personal 
character.  It  may  be  inferred  that  Nahum 
was  a  realist  by  the  graphic  description  he 
gave  of  Nineveh's  fall  (Nah.  1-2) .  Habak- 
kuk was  the  prophet  of  doubt,  issuing  in  cer- 
tainty (Hab.  1-2).  Zephaniah  and  Joel 
were  the  prophets  of  impending  judgment. 

Summing  up,  then,  we  may  think  of 
Amos  as  a  John  Calvin  forging  his  thunder- 
bolts; of  Hosea  as  a  Melanchthon,  a  keen 
but  timid  scholar,  shooting  his  pointed 
shafts ;  of  Isaiah  as  a  Wendell  Phillips,  the 
silver-tongued  reformer;  of  Micah  as  a 
Luther,  rough  and  ready;  of  Jeremiah  as  a 
John  Wesley,  a  refined  and  timid  scholar 
driven  by  conviction  into  fierce  public  serv- 
ice; of  Ezekiel  as  a  Dwight  L.  Moody,  a 
great  soul- winner;  of  the  Second  Isaiah  as 
a  Phillips  Brooks,  a  man  with  a  melting 


126  THE  PROPHETS 

message  for  the  whole  world  of  sad  and  suf- 
fering humanity. 

What  a  diversity  of  personalities  God  can 
use!  How  admirably  each  fitted  into  his 
time  and  filled  the  task  assigned  him!  How 
different  they  were  in  their  manner,  train- 
ing, mood,  and  message !  But,  falling  under 
the  same  spiritual  power,  they  sprang  to 
their  tasks  and  did  them  in  God's  chosen 
way.  God  has  a  place  in  his  kingdom  for 
each  of  us.  What  we  sometimes  lack  is  the 
eternal  fire,  which  sets  the  soul  aglow  and 
imparts  to  our  words  passion.  Personalities 
differ  radically,  but  it  is  the  same  spirit  in 
all — the  Spirit  of  God,  "which  worketh  in 
you  both  to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleas- 
ure" (Phil.  2.  13).  May  God  help  us  each 
to  respond  eagerly  to  his  loving  call  to  live 
our  lives  in  the  place  and  manner  for  which 
we  are  fitted  by  sacred  and  usable  per- 
sonality! 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  127 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
WRITINGS 

SIGNS  AND  SYMBOLS  IN  PROPHETIC  WRIT- 
INGS 

THE  ancient,  but  wise,  old  Socrates  was 
fond  of  saying,  "I  would  rather  write  on  the 
hearts  of  men  than  on  dead  sheepskins." 
The  prophets  did  both.  Without  their  writ- 
ten records  preserved  and  handed  down  to 
us,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  prophets' 
message  could  have  endured  until  now. 
Written  language  preserves  the  spoken 
word.  It  is  the  vessel  in  which  the  sacred 
and  heroic  past  is  bottled  up  for  future  use. 
We  must  not,  however,  come  to  think  more 
of  the  bottle  than  of  the  contents,  of  the 
form  than  of  the  substance,  of  the  letter 
than  of  the  spirit  of  prophetic  literature. 
Let  us  not  forget,  however,  that  the  forms 
and  styles  of  the  writers  affect  scriptural 
meaning  for  us.  Much  depends  on  how  we 


128  THE  PROPHETS 

view  these  writings  and  with  what  intent  in 
mind  we  read  them.  The  story  is  told  of  a 
stranger  who  passed  a  barber's  window  and 
caught  the  following  sign,  reading  it  thus: 

"What  do  you  think? 
I  shave  you  for  nothing, 
And  give  you  a  drink." 

He  stepped  in,  got  his  shave,  and  called 
for  the  drink.  As  he  was  leaving,  however, 
the  barber  said,  "Thirty  cents,  please,"  and 
called  the  man's  attention  to  the  sign,  read- 
ing it  thus : 

"What !  do  you  think 
I  shave  you  for  nothing 
And  give  you  a  drink?" 

Numerous  instances  of  this  sort  occur 
daily  in  wrongly  interpreting  written  words. 
Words  are  the  bearers  of  ideas,  moods,  and 
feelings.  They  are  the  signs  we  must  em- 
ploy to  convey  our  experiences  one  to  an- 
other. Since  language  is  a  signal  system, 
whether  it  be  an  auto-honk,  signpost,  or 
written  document,  the  key  to  the  system 
must  be  understood  in  order  to  grasp  rightly 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  129 

the  meaning  intended.  This  meaning  is 
easily  misunderstood  if  the  reader  is  want- 
ing in  knowledge  or  careless  in  his  readings ; 
and,  far  worse,  if  he  is  biased  in  favor  of 
some  meaning  which  he  endeavors  to  extract 
therefrom. 

This  is  no  less  true  of  the  writings  of  the 
Hebrew  prophets,  at  times,  than  of  the  bar- 
ber's sign.  The  prophets  used  signs,  sym- 
bols, illustrations,  and  various  forms  of 
Oriental  figures,  to  convey  their  God-given 
ideas.  In  order  to  grasp  these  prophetic 
ideas  we  must  possess  the  key  to  their  signal- 
system,  the  Hebrew  tongue.  Theirs  was  a 
highly  pictorial  speech,  teeming  with  Ori- 
ental imagery,  borrowed  from  the  life  of 
their  day.  The  prophets  and  their  writings, 
then,  must  engage  our  attention  in  this  study 
since  we  are  able  to  reach  the  man  of  God 
only  through  his  written  word,  preserved  in 
the  Old  Testament  (1  Chron.  29.  29). 

Illustrious  writers  of  every  age  have  had 
their  central  and  consuming  themes.  Rus- 
kin  rang  the  changes  on  personal  worth ; 
Carlyle  preached  the  gospel  of  honest  work ; 
Matthew  Arnold  taught  the  worth  of  cul- 


130  THE  PROPHETS 

ture;  Emerson's  theme  was  plain  honesty; 
that  of  H.  G.  Wells  is  eugenic  reform; 
Arnold  Bennett  developed  the  gospel  of 
psychic  determinism;  Bernard  Shaw  of  so- 
cial regeneration  through  evolution;  and 
Rauschenbusch  taught  social  reform  through 
the  evoking  power  of  Christianity.  The 
prophetic  writers  likewise  had  their  themes. 
Amos  preached  the  gospel  of  righteousness ; 
Hosea,  of  love;  Isaiah,  of  holiness;  Micah, 
of  justice;  Jeremiah,  of  spirituality;  Eze- 
kiel,  of  personal  responsibility;  and  the 
Second  Isaiah  of  divine  goodness  through 
the  glory  of  suffering. 

THEMES  IN  PROPHETIC  WRITINGS 

What  themes,  then,  find  most  frequent 
expression  in  prophetic  literature  as  a 
whole  ?  Foremost,  it  is  teeming  with  human 
life,  or,  rather,  with  the  divine  ideal  for  life. 
Be  loyal,  be  true,  be  good,  be  upright,  be 
chaste,  be  devout,  be  merciful,  be  honest,  be 
neighborly,  be  all  that  Jehovah  has  a  right 
to  expect  of  his  earthly  children.  These  are 
the  literary  refrains  of  prophetic  messages. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  131 

"What  does  Jehovah  require  of  thee?"  was 
every  prophet's  query  (Mic.  6.  8). 

His  words,  nevertheless,  would  not  have 
challenged  Israel  nor  have  been  valued 
enough  to  be  preserved  on  parchment  unless 
his  manner  of  utterance  had  been  in  good 
form.  It  required  literary  ability,  cleverness 
in  expression,  breadth  of  vocabulary,  knowl- 
edge of  affairs,  acquaintance  with  science, 
art,  and  customs,  and  the  possession  of  a 
rich  personality.  He  must  have  been  intel- 
lectually, as  well  as  spiritually,  fitted  for  his 
task.  The  prophets  were  men  of  exceptional 
promise  and  of  rich  quality,  even  before 
Jehovah  laid  his  Spirit  upon  them. 
Capacity  and  capability,  education  and  in- 
spiration, depth  of  personality  and  sound- 
ness of  ideas,  clearness  of  vision  and  spiritual 
reach  were  their  capital  when  they  yielded 
their  pens  to  the  call  of  God.  All  these  so- 
called  natural  gifts,  of  course,  without  the 
gifts  of  the  "Spirit"  would  have  left  them 
sounding  brass  (1  Cor.  13.  1) .  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Spirit  without  natural  endowment 
and  training,  seldom  results  in  great  reli- 
gious leadership. 


132  THE  PROPHETS 

THE  NATURALNESS  OF  PROPHETIC  WRIT- 
INGS 

If  we  think  of  God  as  having  given  the 
spiritual  life  to  the  prophet  in  a  normal  way 
as  he  does  to  us,  and  the  prophet  as  speak- 
ing out  of  the  fullness  of  his  God-touched 
heart  as  every  messenger  of  God  does  to- 
day, we  shall  come  to  feel  a  closer  spiritual 
kinship  to  the  "man  of  God"  and  to  find 
more  interest,  both  human  and  divine,  in  his 
writings.  Prophecy  will  seem  like  preach- 
ment and  not  like  puzzles  or  predictions. 
Thus,  it  will  cease  to  appear  as  a  mechanical 
production  forced  from  the  prophet,  like  a 
speech  from  a  phonograph. 

This  modifies  the  view,  often  held,  that 
the  prophet's  words  came  directly  from  the 
hand  of  God ;  a  literal  product  of  God  ready 
made,  imposed  arbitrarily  upon  the  prophet. 
The  author's  personality,  his  thought  and 
spirit,  his  style,  his  training,  and  human 
knowledge,  entered  into  his  spoken  and 
written  words.  God  is  the  source  of  the 
truth  uttered,  the  spiritual  fire  in  the 
prophet's  soul,  the  infilling  life  of  his  genius, 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  133 

and  the  conscious  personal  friend  who  sus- 
tains him.  The  prophet,  nevertheless,  ex- 
pressed this  infolding  of  the  Almighty  in 
as  natural  a  manner  as  we  express  our  own 
feelings  of  the  divine  life  within  us.  So 
prophecy  thus  viewed  is  seen  to  be  the  fruit 
of  prophetic  life,  as  the  sermon  of  a  modern 
preacher  is  the  fruit  of  his  devoted  life  and 
inspired  labors. 

Does  not  the  book  of  Amos,  previously 
quoted,  seem  to  be  the  prophet's  own  pro- 
duction, thus  divinely  prompted,  as  truly  as 
John  Wesley's  sermons  are  his?  Each  is  in- 
wardly moved  of  God  to  express  himself  in 
keeping  with  his  personality,  his  age,  and 
his  training.  What  he  speaks  as  his  own 
conviction  echoes  the  mind  of  God. 

Why  need  we  insist  that  God  should  al- 
ways act  contrary  to  nature  in  order  to  mani- 
fest his  life  in  us?  Should  we  not  expect 
him  to  act  in  keeping  with  his  order,  and 
so  manifest  himself  most  in  and  through  the 
natural  processes?  God  operates  in  natural 
events  as  truly  as  in  miraculous  manifesta- 
tions. He  is  not  limited  to  the  natural 
order,  as  we  understand  it,  but  he  seems  to 


134  THE  PROPHETS 

prefer  it.  We  do  not  say  of  a  rose,  "It  is 
either  natural  or  it  is  supernatural."  The 
rose  is  both.  It  is  natural  as  a  natural 
thing;  it  is  supernatural  as  to  its  basic  life. 
God  causes  it  to  grow  thus  by  a  natural 
process  revealing  his  life  in  its  blossoms. 
God  causes  man  constitutionally  to  "feel 
after  him" ;  and  when  he  is  conscious  of  God, 
and  yields  his  inner  life  to  him,  God  can 
speak  through  him.  Whichever  way  we 
think  of  prophecy,  the  fact  remains  that  it 
is  the  Word  of  God.  The  fact  is  the  same, 
though  the  way  of  interpretation  differ  from 
slavish  literalism.  At  any  rate,  man  grasps 
the  fact  of  the  divine  message  more  readily 
through  a  mode  of  thinking  that  relates 
spiritual  realities  in  a  friendly  way  to 
natural  processes. 

THE  GROWING  NATURE  OF  PROPHETIC 
WRITINGS 

When  the  prophetic  writings  are  viewed 
in  this  way,  several  delightful  discoveries 
are  made.  In  the  first  place,  progress  is 
found  in  the  Bible,  as  in  every  other  part 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  135 

of  God's  world.  "All  scriptures  given  by 
inspiration  of  God,"  do  not  stand  on  a  dead 
level.  They  rise  and  fall  with  the  experi- 
ence of  the  Hebrew  people.  Individually 
or  racially,  life  rises  out  of  the  animalistic 
and  moves  toward  the  spiritual.  This  world 
has  never  been  perfect,  though  good  (Gen. 
1 )  ;  but  it  has  been  growing  better.  This  is 
true  of  prophetic  writing  as  well.  The 
grand  good  seer,  Samuel,  could  "hew  Agag 
in  pieces"  (1  Sam.  15.  33)  in  the  name  of 
Jehovah,  but  ten  centuries  later  Jesus,  the 
flower  of  prophecy,  said,  "But  whosoever 
shall  smite  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to 
him  the  other  also"  (Matt.  5.  39).  "All 
they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the 
sword"  (Matt.  26.  52).  The  change  here  is 
not  in  the  character  of  the  eternal  God,  who 
changeth  not,  but  in  a  progressive  revelation 
of  God  throughout  Hebrew  history.  Sam- 
uel understood  God  in  part;  Christ  under- 
stood him  in  full. 

We  are  not  troubled  by  apparent  contra- 
dictions in  the  Bible  when  we  remember  that 
we  are  dealing  with  a  growing  revelation 
which  rises  with  fuller  and  clearer  experi- 


136  THE  PROPHETS 

ence  from  age  to  age.  Is  it  not  for  us  a 
sharp  distinction  between  the  rude  and 
savage  practices  of  the  book  of  Judges  and 
the  life  of  suffering  for  others  by  the  gentle 
Servant  of  God  in  the  book  of  Isaiah? 
( Judg.  1  and  Isa.  53.)  In  the  course  of  five 
hundred  years  religious  ideas  had  clarified. 
God's  way  in  the  Bible  as  in  nature  is  de- 
velopmental. 

THE  MANIFOLD  STYLES  IN  PROPHETIC 
WHITINGS 

In  the  second  place,  prophetic  writings 
display  all  the  variety  of  literary  form  to  be 
found  in  the  utterances  of  our  Western  re- 
formers and  preachers.  Hence  history, 
parable,  poetry,  riddle,  science,  romance, 
and  story,  were  all  used  in  driving  home  the 
lesson  intended,  much  as  preachers  use  them 
now;  and  all  available  sources  of  informa- 
tion were  drawn  upon. 

The  earliest  prophets,  Moses,  Samuel, 
and  the  writers  of  the  histories  of  the  books 
of  Samuel,  Judges,  and  Kings,  gave  us  the 
prophetic  narratives  of  Israel's  past  national 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  137 

experiences.  These  valuable  historical  writ- 
ings are  known  as  the  work  of  the  early  He- 
brew prophets,  many  of  whom  we  do  not 
know  by  name.  These  authors  do  not  write 
merely  as  historians,  however,  but  used  his- 
tory to  illustrate  their  sermons.  The  latter 
group  of  the  prophetic  writings  bear  the 
names,  styles,  and  characteristic  marks  of 
their  prophetic  writers — Amos,  Hosea, 
Micah,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  and  Ezekiel. 
These  are  among  the  best  of  Old  Testament 
writings,  which  had  first  been  spoken  in  pub- 
lic, then  written  down  by  the  prophets 
themselves,  or  by  their  pupils,  and  subse- 
quently collected  and  used  for  public  in- 
struction (Jer.  36.  28). 

The  prophetic  writings  not  only  vary  with 
different  prophets,  but  in  the  same  prophetic 
book  there  may  be  composite  productions  re- 
flecting different  events  and  periods  out  of 
chronological  order.  Poetry,  prose,  narra- 
tive, and  orations  often  succeed  one  another 
in  the  same  book. 

Take  the  book  of  Isaiah  for  example.  It 
becomes  a  puzzle  if  treated  on  a  dead  level 
as  the  work  of  one  prophet.  The  first  thirty- 


138  THE  PROPHETS 

nine  chapters,  in  the  main,  seem  to  have  come 
from  the  pen  of  Isaiah,  the  peerless  prophet, 
reformer,  and  statesman  of  Jerusalem,  liv- 
ing a  century  and  a  half  before  the  captivity 
of  Judah.  The  description  of  his  call  to  the 
prophetic  career  appears  in  the  sixth  instead 
of  the  first  chapter,  as  we  might  expect ;  his 
prophetic  inauguration  in  the  fifth,  just 
preceding  the  call;  his  denunciations  of 
Judah's  sins  in  chapters  one  to  four;  while 
his  earliest  experience  with  King  Ahaz  oc- 
cur in  chapters  seven  to  eight.  Chapters 
forty  to  fifty-six,  written  by  an  unknown 
prophet,  often  called  the  Second  Isaiah,  re- 
flect the  later  period  of  the  Babylonian  cap- 
tivity. They  are  wholly  different  in  style 
and  purpose,  in  themes  and  presentation, 
from  the  first  thirty-nine  chapters  of  the 
book.  Clearly,  we  have  in  the  book  of 
Isaiah  the  sacred  writings  of  at  least  two 
prophets  living  in  different  centuries.  Such 
facts  need  not  disturb  us.  They  only  mean 
that  the  different  parchments,  valued  and 
preserved  by  prophetic  followers,  were  in 
after  years  gathered  into  a  single  roll  for 
sacred  use. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  139 

THE  FRESH  HUMAN  INTEREST  IN  PRO- 
PHETIC WRITINGS 

In  the  third  place,  the  prophetic  litera- 
ture takes  on  a  new  and  fresh  human  inter- 
est to  the  reader.  It  is  seen  to  drip  with  the 
honey  of  human  events  and  to  move  in  lively 
incidents.  It  brings  a  realistic  sense  of 
God's  dealings  with  his  servant,  the  prophet. 
For  instance,  Isaiah  describes  in  terms  of 
kingly  splendor  and  court  imagery,  scenes 
in  which  most  of  his  life  had  moved ;  he  tells 
of  his  soul's  meeting  with  God  and  of  the 
new  sense  of  surrender  to  God's  will  (ch. 
6) ,  or  he  composes  a  love-song  laid  in  a  vine- 
yard, sets  it  to  music  and  sings  it  at  some 
public  gathering  (ch.  5) ;  or,  taking  his  son 
by  the  hand,  he  meets  the  cowardly  and 
vacillating  king,  Ahaz,  near  the  upper  reser- 
voir and  pleads  with  him  to  trust  in  God 
and  keep  out  of  entangling  political  al- 
liances (ch.  7) ;  or,  he  paints  a  signboard 
and  nails  it  to  a  tree  as  a  warning,  "Speedy 
prey,  speedy  spoil" ;  or,  laying  aside  his  cus- 
tomary raiment  for  three  years,  he  dons  the 
mean  garb  of  a  slave  in  order  to  create  right 


140  THE  PROPHETS 

public  sentiment  (ch.  20) ;  or,  he  climbs 
upon  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  during  the 
desperate  siege  of  Sennacherib  to  fire  the 
patriotism  of  the  dejected  soldiers  (ch.  36) . 
This  is  surely  all  very  real  and  very  human. 
It  sounds  not  unlike  the  experiences  of 
God's  great  ministers  of  to-day.  And  yet, 
in  all  its  naturalness,  who  can  doubt  that  the 
inner  power  which  stirs  the  human  spirit  is 
that  of  the  living  God? 

This  fascination  in  the  real  human  life  of 
the  prophet  meets  the  reader  in  every  pro- 
phetic book.  Amos  at  Bethel  (chs.  1-2), 
Hosea  in  his  love  adventure  (chs.  1-2), 
Nahum  excitedly  describing  the  fall  of 
Nineveh  (chs.  1-2),  Jeremiah  wearing  a 
yoke  to  suggest  the  coming  captivity  of  his 
people  (ch.  28) ,  or  the  shattering  of  the  pot- 
ter's vessel  to  show  how  Jehovah  would 
break  in  pieces  Jerusalem  for  her  sins  ( Jer. 
18),  or  being  thrown  into  a  miry  well  (ch. 
32),  or  banished  from  the  temple  precinct 
(ch.  36),  having  his  sermons  burned  (36. 
23),  arrested  as  a  traitor  or  kidnaped  and 
carried  to  Egypt;  Ezekiel  carried  with  cap- 
tives to  Babylon  (1.  1),  preparing  a  mock 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  141 

siege  (ch.  4),  a  mock  flight  from  the  city 
(ch.  12),  symbolizing  the  fate  of  the  land 
by  cutting  off  the  hair  (ch.  5).  Similar 
incidents  are  found  in  all  prophetic  writ- 
ings, which  show  this  literature  to  be  teem- 
ing with  concrete  life.  It  is  all  in  the  day's 
work  for  God. 

LITERARY  ABILITY  OF  PROPHETIC  WRITERS 

In  the  fourth  place,  the  modern  reader 
of  the  prophets  comes  to  hold  them  in  his 
esteem  as  genuine  men  of  practical  worth. 
The  reader  discovers  that  the  Hebrew 
prophets  were  men  of  good  training.  They 
were  literary  men,  authors,  orators,  histor- 
ians, reformers,  preachers,  poets,  singers, 
and  statesmen.  They  were  men  of  marked 
ability  in  their  time  and  were  well  known 
authors,  as  shown  by  frequent  references 
made  to  their  works.  We  read,  "The  books 
[writings]  of  Samuel,  the  seer"  (1  Chron. 
29.  29),  "The  book  of  Shemaiah  the 
prophet"  and  "The  story  of  the  prophet 
Iddo,"  "the  book  of  Jehu"  (2  Chron.  12. 15; 
13.  22;  20.  34).  Now,  writing  was  a  rare 
accomplishment,  even  in  Jeremiah's  day. 


142  THE  PROPHETS 

In  fact,  nearly  all  of  the  Hebrew  history  was 
the  product  of  the  prophets.  That  the 
prophets  from  Elijah  to  Malachi  could  and 
did  write  is  apparent  (2  Chron.  21.  12;  Mai. 
3.  16).  Their  interest  in  letters  was  not  a 
mere  literary  ambition.  They  wrote,  as  they 
spoke,  with  some  definite  moral  and  spiritual 
object  in  mind  (Jer.  36.  3-7).  Jeremiah,  we 
learn  here,  was  himself  prohibited  from 
preaching,  but  his  pupil,  Baruch,  might  read 
the  prophet's  sermons,  which  led  to  writing 
them.  So  that  prophetic  literature  was  in  a 
sense  a  by-product  of  prophetic  activity.  It 
was  a  means  to  an  end.  It  was  an  instru- 
ment of  divine  service  used  in  the  day's  work 
for  God. 

ORAL  STYLE  or  PROPHETIC  WRITING 

The  manner  of  prophetic  writing  is  re- 
vealed also  in  the  messages  of  Jeremiah. 
He  delivered  these  sermons  twenty  years 
before  writing  them.  They  were  evidently 
memory  reproductions  of  the  substance  of 
his  earlier  teaching  adapted  to  his  present 
object.  Hence  they  retain  much  of  the  oral 
style  and  impassioned  oratory  of  the 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  143 

prophet.  What  we  learn  about  Jeremiah's 
mode  of  writing  we  may  assume  to  be  largely 
true  of  other  prophets.  The  prophet's  writ- 
ings are  mainly  direct  address;  hence,  we 
feel  the  Hebrew  audience  present  as  we  read 
them.  His  words  waft  to  us  across  the  cen- 
turies the  living  atmosphere  of  those  an- 
cient times.  We  sense  the  presence  of  his 
hearers. 

The  prophet's  writings  came  naturally 
out  of  the  life  and  objects  of  the  time.  He 
tried  to  meet  emergencies  on  the  spot.  He 
eagerly  grasped  a  chance  to  drive  home  a 
moral  truth  for  a  specific  need  of  his  peo- 
ple. The  prophets  were  always  ready  with 
a  message  when  it  was  needed.  They  were 
students  of  history  and  applied  past  events 
to  present  conditions  in  Israel.  Note,  for 
example,  Jeremiah's  readiness  to  answer 
hard  questions  (Jer.  21) ;  or  his  sermon  of 
the  potter's  clay,  suggested  by  seeing  a  pot- 
ter at  work  (ch.  18) ;  or  his  sermon  on  the 
temple,  produced  by  hearing  the  false 
prophet's  cry,  "Our  bones  are  dried,  and 
our  hope  is  lost :  we  are  cut  off  for  our  parts" 
(Ezek.  37.  11).  Thus,  the  prophetic  writ- 


144  THE  PROPHETS 

ings  were  steeped  in  the  life  of  the  people 
and  prompted  by  vital  issues  before  his  eyes. 
The  man  of  God  was  thus  a  true  child  of  his 
age,  a  faithful  servant  of  Jehovah,  and, 
therefore,  a  contributor  to  every  age. 

PRESENT  USE  or  PROPHETIC  WRITING 

Lastly,  what  use  can  we  make  in  our  day 
of  this  prophetic  literature?  Why  should 
we  read  it?  Our  chief  business  is  to  under- 
stand and  master  ourselves  that  we  may  live 
well  and  usefully  among  others.  To  do  this 
we  need  to  know  the  past  as  well  as  the 
present.  What  the  prophet  has  achieved 
for  himself  he  may  accomplish  for  us.  His 
writings  bear  his  message  and  reveal  his 
spirit  of  fearless  faith,  courageous  hopeful- 
ness, and  genuine  insight  into  the  needs  and 
conditions  of  his  day.  Such  is  the  brilliant, 
earnest,  convincing  style  which  is  able  to  con- 
vey to  us  of  later  times  something  of  the 
ancient  prophetic  power  and  spirit  which  we 
crave. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  145 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
IDEAS 

THE  UNIVERSALITY  OF  PROPHETIC  IDEAS 

"MAN  has  arrived,  and  what  a  world  he 
has  at  his  service!"  Anybody  can  exist,  but 
it  is  a  greater  thing  to  live.  The  reason  some 
people  are  so  small  is  that  they  think  and 
live  so  little.  One  has  to  live  a  big  life  not 
to  be  forgotten  in  a  generation.  To  live  a 
small  life  and  deal  in  trifling  ideas  is  to  be 
hermetically  sealed  in  a  vacuum.  The 
prophets  of  Israel,  who  wrought  in  the  long, 
long  ago,  still  live  in  their  imperishable 
utterances.  They  thought  in  large  terms 
and  worked  with  big  ideas;  they  were  mas- 
tered by  these  ideas,  and  with  them  mas- 
tered others. 

Why  should  the  ideas  of  ancient  seers 
concern  us  to-day?  This  is  not  an  idle  ques- 
tion, for  the  influence  of  the  prophet  on  us 
to-day  is  immense.  The  answer  is  that  a 


146  THE  PROPHETS 

sound  idea  spoken  anywhere  is  sound  every- 
where. Truth  is  universal;  its  home  is  wher- 
ever man  is.  Why  should  we  value  the 
words  of  the  prophets  above  the  rest  of  the 
Old  Testament?  Because  ideas,  like  coins, 
are  valued  for  their  usefulness  as  well  as  for 
their  intrinsic  worth.  A  dollar  is  worth  more 
than  a  dime  because  it  will  do  more  for  us 
and  will  better  promote  our  welfare.  It  is 
so  with  ideas.  As  we  use  them  they  bless 
us,  enrich  us,  and  give  us  mastery  in  the 
world.  Those  ideas  which  are  universal  and 
necessary  in  the  ongoing  of  life  are  of  most 
worth.  Such  ideas  the  prophets  held  and 
proclaimed.  Therefore  they  remain  undy- 
ing and  vital.  They  yet  speak,  though  dead. 
But  even  moral  and  spiritual  ideas  are  of 
varying  worth,  so  that  not  all  prophetic 
ideas  are  of  priceless  value.  The  injunction 
of  Isaiah,  "Cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to  do 
well"  (Isa.  1.  16,  17),  is  of  more  value  than 
"Howl,  ye  ships  of  Tarshish"  (23.  1). 
Likewise  there  are  distinctions  in  moral  mes- 
sages. To  be  righteous  is  better  than  to  be 
generous,  though  both  are  excellent  virtues. 
Goodness  is  intrinsic  and  makes  its  declara- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  147 

tion  in  moral  actions  stimulated  by  sound 
ideas. 

LIVING  IDEAS  OF  THE  PROPHETS 

There  are  a  half-dozen  great  ideas  around 
which  life  centers.  They  constitute  the 
cardinal  principles  of  man.  To  have  these 
articulated  in  action  is  to  be  mighty.  Did 
the  prophets  of  Israel  possess  such  cardinal 
ideas?  They  did;  or,  rather,  the  ideas  pos- 
sessed them ;  and  therein  lies  the  chief  value 
of  the  prophets  for  us.  They  were  aflame 
with  these  ideas.  Though  each  prophet  had 
his  distinctive  message,  they  all  had  certain 
cardinal  ideas  in  common,  and  used  them  in 
different  connections  with  varying  clearness 
and  stress.  They  were  always  in  evidence. 
Unceasingly  the  prophets  proclaimed  them. 
They  underlay  all  that  the  prophets  said 
and  did.  There  were  about  seven  of  these 
vibrant  conceptions,  living  ideas,  or  govern- 
ing principles  in  the  prophetic  creed.  They 
were  not  proclaimed  in  order,  of  course,  but 
used  as  practical  need  required.  The  few 
great  truths  which  they  saw  and  that  had 
mastered  them,  they  were  masters  in  giving 


148  THE  PROPHETS 

out.    This  mastery  they  had  gained  by  lively 
contact  with  great  events. 

JEHOVAH'S  SUPREMACY 

First  of  all,  the  prophets  believed  in  the 
absolute  supremacy  of  Jehovah.  He  was 
Creator  of  all  things  (Isa.  40).  He  had 
unlimited  control  over  nature  (Amos  1.  2). 
His  purpose  ran  through  history  (Isa.  28. 
14-21).  To  the  prophets,  God  moved  to- 
ward a  goal  and  shaped  all  movements. 
Nothing  ran  with  aimless  feet.  Nothing 
happened  by  chance.  All  events  were 
divinely  ordered.  He  worked  through  men 
to  accomplish  his  purposes  (Isa.  37.  21- 
38).  Natural  agents  were  his  ministers 
(Psa.  104.  4).  Nothing  is  withdrawn  from 
his  providential  government  (Isa.  10.  24- 
27),  great  or  small,  remote  or  near,  past  or 
future,  material  or  spiritual  (Isa.  10.  5). 
God  is  supreme.  "By  the  strength  of  my 
hand  I  have  done  it,  and  by  my  wisdom;  for 
I  am  prudent:  and  I  have  removed  the 
bounds  of  the  peoples,  and  have  robbed 
their  treasures,  and  I  have  brought  down  as 
a  valiant  man  them  that  sit  on  thrones ;  and 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  149 

my  hand  hath  found  as  a  nest  the  riches  of 
the  peoples;  and  as  one  gathereth  eggs  that 
are  forsaken,  have  I  gathered  all  the  earth: 
and  there  was  none  that  moved  the  wing,  or 
that  opened  the  mouth,  or  chirped"  (Isa. 

10.  13-14). 

This  conception  of  God  was  not  merely 
an  abstract  theory  with  the  prophet.  It  was 
for  him  a  living  reality,  ground  into  his  soul. 
It  was  a  living,  working  fact  which  moved 
his  whole  life.  The  supreme  God  of  the 
world  was  seen  by  the  prophet  in  the 
heavens,  heard  in  the  storm,  traced  through 
history,  and  felt  in  his  soul.  To  him  God 
seemed  to  be  his  living,  daily,  inspiring,  per- 
sonal friend.  The  prophet  was  companioned 
with  Jehovah.  He  talked  to  him  and  heard 
him  speak,  received  his  messages,  pleaded 
with  God  in  behalf  of  his  people  ( Jer.  10, 

11,  15,  18).     These  men  were  God-intoxi- 
cated.    They  were  men  who  lived  in  such 
vivid  realization  of  God's  fellowship  that  he 
could  whisper  his  eternal  truths  into  their 
open  ears,  and  the  warm  breath  of  heaven 
fanned  their  being  into  a  holy  enthusiasm 
which  found  boundless  expression  in  pas- 


150  THE  PROPHETS 

sionate  preaching  and  courageous  action. 
Across  the  centuries  their  preaching  is  still 
recognized  as  the  voice  of  God.  Such  a 
sense  of  God  will  make  any  life  heroic, 
saintly,  and  blessed. 

JEHOVAH'S  IMPARTIAL  JUSTICE 

The  prophets  believed  that  this  personal 
God  was  unique  in  character  by  being  im- 
partial in  his  justice  and  infinite  in  his  mercy 
(Mic.  7.  18-20).  This  unique  doctrine  of 
the  prophet  marks  a  new  day  in  religion,  for 
the  rest  of  the  ancient  world  still  believed 
in  many  gods, — gods  capricious  and  gods 
revengeful  and  lustful.  The  God  of  the 
prophets  was  righteous  to  the  core.  Indeed, 
to  Amos,  the  center  of  God's  character  is 
summed  up  in  the  word  "righteous"  (chs. 
3,  4) ;  to  Hosea  God  is  the  compassionate 
one  (ch.  2),  to  Micah  he  is  the  just  God 
(ch.  2),  and  to  Jeremiah  the  spiritual  God 
set  in  the  heart  (ch.  31.  33) .  To  all  of  them 
Jehovah  is  the  God  of  impartial  justice  and 
infinite  mercy.  He  punishes  sin  by  storm 
and  earthquake,  fire  and  sword,  pestilence 
and  famine  (Ezek.  5.  12).  Yet  he  often 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  151 

waits  patiently,  delays  the  evil  day,  relents 
when  pleaded  with,  forgives  when  repent- 
ance is  shown,  and  loves  his  wayward  peo- 
ple to  a  fault  (Mai.  3.  16,  17).  "Is  it  pos- 
sible," breaks  forth  a  recent  writer  in  a  com- 
ment on  our  times,  "that  we  make  the  doing 
of  good  an  excuse  for  not  doing  right?" 
That  God  is  righteous  needs  still  to  be  thun- 
dered into  the  ears  of  men. 

LIFE  A  HOLY  MISSION 

In  the  prophetic  creed  life  is  a  holy  mis- 
sion from  God.  Israel  was  an  elect  people, 
"chosen  of  God  out  of  all  nations."  With 
them  he  had  covenanted  to  keep,  prosper, 
and  bless,  if  they,  on  their  part,  obeyed  and 
honored  him.  But  Israel  was  chosen  for  a 
purpose,  to  fulfill  a  high  spiritual  vocation. 
Israel  was  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  true  reli- 
gion, and  to  be  the  spiritual  teacher  of  all 
nations.  Therefore,  an  exceptional  respon- 
sibility rested  upon  Israel  as  the  people  of 
God  to  qualify  for  its  mission.  This  idea 
of  divine  election  with  special  privileges  was 
echoed  by  all  the  prophets.  "You  only  have 
I  known  of  all  the  families  of  the  earth," 


152  THE  PROPHETS 

protested  Amos  (3.  2) ;  "When  Israel  was  a 
child,  then  I  loved  him,  and  called  my  son 
out  of  Egypt,"  sobbed  Hosea  (11.  1) ;  "For 
I  brought  thee  up  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
and  redeemed  thee,"  pleaded  Micah  (6.  4) ; 
"The  people  which  I  formed  for  myself,  that 
they  might  set  forth  my  praise,"  rang  out 
Isaiah  (43.  21 ).  Hence,  a  nation  has  a  mis- 
sion under  God;  a  person  has  a  mission 
under  God.  Each  must  find  and  fill  his 
mission,  and  do  it  in  God's  way,  or  perish 
from  the  earth.  Our  national  mission  for 
one  thing  seems  to  be  the  spread  of  demo- 
cratic ideas. 

DISCIPLINARY  NATURE  OF  MISFORTUNE 

The  prophets  believed  that  the  present 
evils  in  the  world  were  sent  by  Jehovah  be- 
cause man  was  wicked.  The  evils  which 
were  visited  upon  Israel  were  Jehovah's 
rods  of  correction.  Sin  had  caused  God  to 
change  the  original  perfect  order  and  turn 
it  to  corrective  uses.  The  most  common 
divine  scourges  were  war,  pestilence,  famine, 
and  earthquake  (Isa.  10.  16;  Amos  1.  2; 
Jer.  23.  9-12;  Ezek.  5.  12).  Is  it  not  so 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  153 

that  the  most  stubborn,  ugly,  and  persistent 
fact  among  men  is  sin?  Nevertheless,  are 
we  not  persuaded  that  sin  can  be  eradicated 
by  the  help  of  God? 

"Sin  is  the  only  prison  that  binds  the  human  soul ; 
Love  is  the  only  angel  that  bids  the  gates  unroll ; 
When  he  shall  come  to  lead  thee,  arise  and  follow 

fast; 

Though  it  leads  through  darkness,  it  leads  to 
light  at  last." 

REDEEMABILITY  OF  MAN  AND  SOCIETY 

The  prophets  believed  that  the  original 
created  order  of  the  world  could  be  restored 
only  by  man  being  morally  restored  to  divine 
obedience.  The  supreme  task  was  to  secure 
man's  obedience  to  God.  Two  things  stood 
in  the  way : 

1.  Man's  evil  will. 

2.  Man's  ignorance  of  God's  will. 
What  was  the  prophet's  remedy? 

1.  Man's  evil  will  must  be  made  good. 

2.  Man's  ignorance  of  God  must  be  re- 

moved. 
How  was  this  to  be  accomplished? 


154  THE  PROPHETS 

1.  By  means  of  a  chosen  people  whom 

God  will  train  and  lead  and  put  his 
Spirit  upon. 

2.  To  whom  he  will  reveal  his  will  and 

way  through  chosen  men,  priests 
and  prophets,  poets  and  sages. 

Now,  Israel  was  that  people.  Prophets, 
priests,  and  princes  were  his  chosen  leaders. 
The  king  was  the  national  protector.  The 
priest  was  the  custodian  of  law  and  worship. 
The  prophet  was  the  revealer  of  Jehovah's 
word.  Hence  Israel  was  to  become  "a  king- 
dom of  priests,  and  a  holy  nation"  (Exod. 
19.  6). 

THE  ULTIMATE  TRIUMPH  OF  GOOD 

The  prophet  believed  with  all  his  soul  in 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  good  in  the  world. 
Jehovah  would  win  out;  his  order  would 
succeed.  With  the  prophet  good  was 
stronger  than  evil.  God  was  mightier  than 
sin.  Therefore  the  prophet  was  a  confirmed 
optimist,  not  by  temperament,  but  by  creed. 
The  darker  the  present  appeared,  the 
brighter  shone  the  future  for  the  prophet. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  155 

The  uglier  the  evil  day  frowned,  the  clearer 
the  man  of  God  foresaw  the  face  of  the  re- 
deeming One  ( Isa.  54 ) . 

This  optimism  is  the  perennial  nature  of 
every  righteous,  God-fearing  soul.  Is  it  not 
carried  naturally  in  the  human  heart  and 
confirmed  beyond  a  question  through  a  right 
view  of  God?  If  one  believes  stoutly  that 
God  is  at  the  center  of  things,  and  that 
wrong  is  hateful  to  God,  then  one  must  be- 
lieve with  equal  force  that  all  wrong,  be  it 
the  liquor  traffic,  child-labor,  the  sweatshop, 
or  any  other  form  of  wrong,  will  cease  some 
time,  somehow.  (See  Isa.  2,  4;  Mic.  4.  1- 
5;  Jer.  31.  11;  Ezek.  34.  23-27;  37.  12). 

How  was  this  optimism  to  be  realized? 
For  the  Hebrew  prophets,  it  was  to  be 
characterized : 

First,  by  judgment  followed  by  peace, 
which  to  the  earlier  prophets  was  "a  day  of 
Jehovah"  (time  indefinite) ;  while  to  the 
later  prophets  it  was  "the  day  of  Jehovah" 
(time  definite).  At  first  it  was  to  be  the 
joyous  presence  of  God;  later  it  was  to  be 
a  terrible  day  of  vengeance  upon  all  enemies 
of  God.  Yet  more  and  more  the  note  of 


156  THE  PROPHETS 

peace  sounded  forth.    In  this  Isaiah  led  the 
prophetic  chorus  (2.  4). 

Secondly,  it  was  to  be  characterized 
further  by  the  actual  presence  of  God  in 
universal  prosperity  and  blessing  (Ezek.  37. 
12-14).  Out  of  this  prophetic  creed  sprang 
the  Messianic  expectation.  God  would 
some  day  send  his  Deliverer,  princely 
and  peaceful,  righteous  and  holy,  prophetic 
and  kingly,  to  set  all  things  right.  With 
each  generation  this  hope  became  firmer  and 
clearer  until  it  was  finally  fashioned  in  the 
heart  of  the  sorrowing  captives  of  Babylon 
(Isa.  54).  After  weary,  waiting  centuries, 
in  Bethlehem  of  Judaea  the  angels  of  God 
announced  his  arrival,  and  the  cross  sealed 
his  Messianic  work  when  he  said,  "It  is 
finished." 

THE  PROPHETIC  GOSPEL  OF  SOCIAL  GOOD 

Again,  out  of  this  prophetic  creed  came 
the  impetuous  social  program  of  the 
prophets.  Hence  they  were  reform  preach- 
ers who  took  a  fearless  and  uncompromis- 
ing stand  against  the  brood  of  social  wrongs 
thriving  in  their  day.  They  pleaded  pas- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  157 

sionately  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy, 
against  whom  the  priests,  the  nobles,  the 
judges,  and  the  kings  conspired.  The  poor 
of  the  land  were  entirely  at  the  mercy  of 
these  robber  classes.  The  kings  robbed  them 
in  taxes;  the  judges  decided  against  them 
for  lack  of  fat  fees;  the  nobles  robbed  them 
of  their  lands ;  and  the  priests  often  cheated 
them  out  of  the  consolation  of  religion. 
Under  such  a  system  of  robbery  the  poor 
had  nowhere  to  turn.  The  government,  the 
courts,  and  the  sanctuary  knew  little  argu- 
ment but  coin,  and  they  measured  pity  by 
pay.  The  masses  were  helpless.  They  faced 
starvation  or  serfdom.  However,  Israel's 
poor  were  unique  in  having  brave  champions 
to  plead  their  cause,  while  the  poor  of  other 
lands  had  no  voice  raised  in  their  behalf. 
The  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  stretch- 
ing from  the  conquests  of  David  to  the  fall 
of  Judah,  were  years  of  ceaseless  protest  by 
the  prophets  against  social  evils  in  the  land. 
What  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  prophetic 
social  plea?  The  belief  that  the  perfect  so- 
cial good  is  the  divine  purpose,  since  the 
cardinal  nature  of  God  himself  is  ethical 


158  THE  PROPHETS 

goodness.  Hence  to  be  righteous  is  to  be 
most  ethical  in  life.  Read  such  declarations 
as  the  following:  Amos  5.  21;  Hos.  4.  6; 
Isa.  11.  4;  Mic.  6.  6-12;  Jer.  23. 

Who  to-day  can  be  strong  and  good  with- 
out the  absorption  of  these  living  ideas  ?  The 
elemental  needs  of  life  are  found  in  the 
prophet's  creed :  ( 1 )  a  worthy  and  dominat- 
ing ideal,  (2)  a  conscious  intimacy  with 
God,  (3)  a  resolute  and  helpful  social  life. 
Thus,  to  be  intelligently  good  is  to  be  in- 
finitely great. 

THE  PROPHETIC  STANDARD  OF  MORALITY 

The  prophets  made  a  high  standard  of 
morality  the  chief  concern  of  Israel's  God. 
No  ancient  nation  was  without  its  moral  de- 
mands. Egypt,  as  witnessed  in  her  Book  of 
the  Dead,  had  a  religion  full  of  moral  pre- 
cepts though  largely  negative  in  tone.  An- 
cient Babylon  had  its  moral  codes  and  gov- 
erning customs,  calculated  to  regulate 
human  life  and  social  relations,  as  minutely 
revealed  in  the  Code  of  Hammurabi.  The 
ethical  codes  of  other  ancient  peoples  were 
buttressed  on  religion  as  was  the  Hebrew 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  159 

code.  What,  then,  was  the  essential  differ- 
ence between  them?  The  prophetic  distinc- 
tion of  ethics  lies  in  its  elevation  and  in  the 
insistence  upon  taking  it  seriously.  The 
prophetic  standing  of  ethics  became  an  is- 
sue, paramount  to  authorized  religious  cus- 
toms. They  portrayed  Jehovah  as  the  uni- 
versal embodiment  of  right  living.  Other 
peoples  could  call  upon  their  gods  for  help 
in  misfortune  or  for  vengeance  upon  an 
enemy  irrespective  of  the  ethics  involved. 
But  Israel,  according  to  prophetic  interpre- 
tation, could  hope  for  divine  aid  only  when 
her  cause  was  just.  It  was  this  preeminence 
which  distinguished  the  Hebrew  prophets 
from  all  other  ancient  teachers.  Even  He- 
brew priests  failed  to  appreciate  the  high 
ground  taken  by  the  prophets.  The  anger 
of  Jehovah  was  never  more  aroused  than 
over  flagrant  and  repeated  violations  of  the 
universal  moral  requirements.  (See  Amos 
1,  2;  Hosea  3,  4;  Isa.  1-4;  Jer.  7.  1-15.) 
Hence,  with  them  ethical  demands  took  no 
account  of  national  boundaries,  racial  differ- 
ences, or  social  rank.  All  must  subscribe  to 
God's  moral  demands  or  encounter  his 


160  THE  PROPHETS 

wrath.  This  was  an  unprecedented  and 
polar  advance  in  the  world's  morality.  This 
in  itself  raised  Israel  to  a  new  standard,  a 
higher  plane  of  existence,  and  marked  her 
history  as  different  from  that  of  her  neigh- 
bors. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  161 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
RELIGION 

IN  Mr.  Britling  Sees  It  Through  the 
author  has  turned  his  dazzling  intellectual 
search-light  upon  his  own  religious  strug- 
gle. At  the  startling  news  that  his  own  boy, 
Hugh,  is  off  for  the  front,  Mr.  Britling,  the 
hero  of  the  novel,  spends  a  wakeful  night 
thinking — thinking:  "How  stupidly  the 
world  is  managed!  Our  only  strategy  was 
to  barter  blood  for  blood — trusting  that  our 
tank  would  prove  the  deeper.  While  in  this 
tank  stepped  Hugh,  young  and  smiling. 
.  .  .  Hugh  wrote  more  frequently  than  his 
father  had  dared  to  hope.  .  .  .  Mr.  Britling 
had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  writing  back. 
There  were  many  grave  things  he  wanted  to 
say,  and  never  did.  .  .  .  Once  or  twice,  with 
a  half-unconscious  imitation  of  his  boy's 
style,  he  took  a  shot  at  the  theological  and 
philosophical  hares  that  Hugh  had  started. 


162  THE  PROPHETS 

.  .  .  There  are  many  things  of  that  sort  that 
are  good  to  think  and  hard  to  say.  .  .  ." 

One  feels  that  way  about  taking  a  "shot" 
at  the  prophet's  religion.  There  are  things 
"that  are  good  to  think  about  and  hard  to 
say."  It  may  seem  odd  to  some  that  one 
need  speak  of  the  prophets'  religion.  It  is  a 
matter,  of  course,  taken  for  granted.  How- 
ever, let  us  risk  a  "shot"  at  the  cardinal 
"hares"  which  make  up  the  personal  faith 
of  the  prophets.  We  might  as  well  own  up 
to  it  that  we  cannot  let  "things  of  that  sort" 
alone.  "For  good  or  ill  we  are  incurably 
religious."  Our  restless  theological  "hares" 
have  to  be  exposed  to  an  occasional  gun- 
ning. 


PROPHETS'  SPIRITUAL  ATTITUDE 

First,  we  may  note  that  their  whole  life 
was  charged  with  spirituality.  It  was  a 
psychic  state  of  mind.  They  had  an  ear  for 
God  as  the  musician  has  for  sound  or  as  the 
painter  has  an  eye  for  sunsets.  God  lay 
back  of  all  their  motives  and  powers  as  a 
mighty  living  force.  The  whole  man  was 
open,  wide  open,  to  spiritual  values.  The 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  163 

prophet  was  orientated  in  eternity.  The 
pa.st,  present,  and  future  lay  spread  out  in 
an  eternal  purpose  and  grasp,  watched  over 
by  the  unsleeping  but  unseen  eye  of  God. 
He  grasped  and  related  all  the  broken 
threads  of  existence  in  the  one  eternal  idea 
of  the  will  of  God.  His  preaching  and  his 
teaching,  his  political  and  social  activities 
were  rooted  in  the  same  soil — his  dominat- 
ing spiritual  passion  for  an  eternal  reality. 
God  stood  under  the  prophet's  conviction 
like  an  adamantine  foundation.  The  vague 
but  confident  feeling  that  one's  soul  rests  in 
God  is  true  religion. 

Man's  chief  concern  is  not  how  to  exist 
but  how  to  live — how  to  live  and  get  others 
to  struggle  in  the  light  of  a  right  standard 
of  conduct;  to  teach  man  how  he  should 
think,  feel,  and  act  in  his  complex  social  re- 
lations is  a  huge  task.  Human  happiness 
and  social  progress  must  be  solved,  or  re- 
solved, in  conduct  and  character;  and  char- 
acter must  be  builded  upon  an  adequate 
ideal.  The  Hebrew  prophets  set  forth  and 
urged  a  dominating  ideal.  The  center  of 
their  ideal  was  the  God  of  righteousness, 


164  THE  PROPHETS 

and  their  passionate  preaching  aimed  at  a 
reign  of  righteousness  among  men.  Hence 
the  prophets  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  He- 
brew moral  consciousness.  They  taught  with 
freshness,  authority,  and  originality  because 
they  were  charged  to  the  fingers'  ends  with 
the  eternal  elixir.  They  gave,  therefore,) 
new  interpretations  of  life,  of  religion,  of/ 
ethics,  of  history,  and  of  society.  They  uni-J 
versalized  the  religion  of  God;  they  moral- 
ized his  character;  they  purified  religion; 
they  intensified  personal  worth ;  they  spiritu- 
alized worship ;  they  idealized  the  future  and 
they  laid  the  basis  for  a  new  social  order. 
To  know  the  religion  and  the  morals  of 
the  prophets  is,  therefore,  of  supreme  im- 
portance. 

THE  PROPHETS'  WRITING  AS  RELIGIOUS 
INSTRUCTION 

Even  the  historical  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  are  prophetic  productions,  writ- 
ten in  the  spirit  of  prophetism  to  teach  moral 
and  spiritual  lessons.  This  was  recognized 
by  Hebrew  scholars,  who  divided  the  entire 
Old  Testament  into  three  sections:  (1)  The 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  165 

Book  of  the  Law,  comprising  the  five  books 
of  the  Pentateuch;  (2)  The  Book  of  the 
Prophets,  divided  into  two  sections,  (a)  the 
"Former  Prophets,"  the  historical  books  of 
Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Kings,  (b) 
the  "Latter  Prophets,"  divided  into  four, 
Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  the  Twelve; 
(3)  The  Writings,  which  make  up  the  chief 
poetic,  dramatic,  and  the  late  historical 
books.  The  "former"  prophetic  histories 
appear  to  have  been  composed  in  part  from 
(a)  an  early  Judgean  history,  and  (b)  an 
early  Ephraimite  history,  freely  drawn 
upon  by  later  Hebrew  scholars. 

The  chief  character  of  the  records  from 
Joshua  to  Kings  is  that  of  religious  instruc- 
tion through  history.  The  book  of  Joshua 
preaches  the  sermon  of  the  mighty  hand  of 
Jehovah  which  was  with  Joshua  in  the  con- 
quest of  Canaan,  the  land  of  promise  (Gen. 
15.  18;  Deut.  11.  24;  Josh.  1.  1-9;  5.  13-15). 
The  book  of  Judges  preaches  prophetic  ser- 
mons in  history  to  impress  the  simple  truth 
that  God  rewards  national  virtue  and  pun- 
ishes national  vice.  "The  children  of  Israel 
did  that  which  was  evil  in  the  sight  of  the 


166  THE  PROPHETS 

Lord,"  is  an  oft  repeated  text  (2.  11;  3.  7; 

4.1). 

The  books  of  Samuel  preach  through  his- 
tory the  sermons  of  the  religious  progress  of 
Israel  under  God-fearing  leaders. 

The  books  of  Kings  give  the  prophetic 
protest  against  wicked  and  worldly  kings 
who  cause  Israel  and  Judah  to  sin.  These 
histories,  then,  are  histories  tempered  in  the 
prophetic  religious  experiences  with  God. 
The  later  prophetic  books  are,  of  course,  ob- 
viously sermonic  in  character,  and  in  com- 
position. They  ring  with  the  preacher's  call 
and  throb  with  fervent  appeals.  They  are 
styled  in  direct  speech.  We  do  well,  there- 
fore, to  observe  the  religion  of  the  prophets 
and  to  ask  what  the  religious  factors  were 
which  made  up  the  splendor  of  their  lives. 
Their  own  religious  life,  then,  merits  our 
attention. 

THE  PROPHET'S  CONSCIOUSNESS  or  GOD 

First  is  the  prophet's  own  inner  sense  of 
God,  looked  at  as  a  unique  personal  experi- 
ence. These  men,  as  has  been  noted,  were 
God-intoxicated.  They  had  the  sense  of 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY.  167 

pleasurable,  personal  communion  with  God. 
They  were  recognized  by  the  common  peo- 
ple, on  this  account,  as  the  "man  of  God" 
(1  Sam.  9.  10),  as  spokesmen  for  God  (Jer. 
23),  as  possessors  of  God's  mind  who  could, 
therefore,  lift  the  veil  of  the  future,  if  Je- 
hovah permitted  it  (Dan.  10.  1). 

They  were  themselves  conscious  of  the 
closest  communion  with  God  (Jer.  31.  16- 
19) .  They  spoke  to  God  as  to  a  fellow  man 
(Jer.  11.  23-25).  They  heard  God  speak 
to  them  (Zech.  4.  1).  They  were  called  to 
their  prophetic  tasks  by  God  himself  in  some 
supernatural  manifestation  (Ezek.  1,  2). 
Whatever  the  outward  circumstance,  the 
inner  experience  was  real. 

This  was  possible  only  on  the  supposition 
that  God  had  created  at  the  center  of  the 
prophet's  soul  a  sense  of  divine  companioii- 
ship.  He  was,  therefore,  convinced  o:Tbeing 
God's  mouthpiece,  God's  anointed.  Here  is 
fundamentally  a  sense  of  living  unity  rather 
than  a  thought  refinement  from  which 
springs  his  personal  God-life  and  his  doc- 
trines of  religion.  Hence,  it  is  Jehovah  who 
sends  him,  empowers  him,  befriends  him, 


168  THE  PROPHETS 

enlightens  him,  inspires  him,  and  uses  him. 
It  is  as  the  friend  of  God  that  the  prophet 
faces  mob,  court,  or  priest  to  satisfy  his  God- 
friend. 

Is  it  possible  for  men  now  to  so  realize  the 
enveloping  presence  of  God?  So,  at  least, 
believed  the  prophets  (Joel  2.  28,  29) .  They 
had  no  idea  that  it  was  peculiar  to  them  or 
their  age  (Zech.  9.  9,  10).  To-day,  when 
science  speaks  with  authority  the  words  of 
inflexible  law,  we  seem  to  imagine  the  world 
bound  in  fetters  of  determinism.  Hence 
timid  souls  find  it  hard  to  believe  in  the 
direct  inner  touch  of  the  Spirit.  Humble 
followers  of  God,  however,  still  experience 
the  touch  of  a  quickening  hand.  Is  law 
stronger  than  God?  Or,  is  God  the  strength 
of  law?  Is  he  who  inhabits  eternity  ordered 
by  law,  or  doth  he  order  all  according  to  law? 
Nature  with  her  laws  is  one  side  of  God's 
great  universe;  and  soul,  with  spiritual 
order,  is  the  other.  "Hast  thou  not  known? 
Hast  thou  not  heard,  that  the  everlasting 
God,  the  Lord,  the  Creator  of  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is  weary?" 
(Isa.  40.  28).  How  may  we  reach  God  in 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  169 

this  matter-of-fact  age?  The  prophet's 
world  was  instinct  with  God.  Shall  we  be- 
lieve that  he  spake  only  in  books  of  the  dead, 
and  doubt  whether  he  speaks  now  in  the 
souls  of  the  living?  "For  I  am  the  Lord,  I 
change  not"  (Mai.  3.  6),  was  the  prophetic 
belief.  In  this  age  of  "insurrection  of 
doubt"  we  need  the  prophet's  call  to  a  resto- 
ration of  faith.  If  we  face  upward,  we 
shall  better  go  forward. 

THE  PROPHETS'  PIETY 

The  prophets  were  men  of  genuine  piety. 
"Piety"  is  not  a  very  attractive  word  to  use 
because  it  is  a  term  now  held  in  contempt 
by  many  as  standing  for  something  flabby 
and  unreal.  It  is,  nevertheless,  the  term 
which  best  expresses  what  the  writer  wants 
to  convey,  since  there  is  a  real  piety  which 
everyone  respects.  Dictionary  piety  is 
dangerous;  advertised  piety  is  punctilious; 
individual  piety  may  glory  in  superior  sanc- 
tity; collective  piety  may  take  delight  in 
litany;  but  true  piety  is  natural,  sponta- 
neous, and  a  matter  of  the  heart.  The  piety 
which  the  prophets  possessed  was  the  fra- 


170  THE  PROPHETS 

grance  of  the  divine  life  which  surged 
through  them  like  God's  life  in  the  rose. 
They  just  could  not  help  living  fragrant 
lives.  True  piety  is  not  forced ;  it  is  fed.  It 
is  not  manufactured ;  it  is  manifested. 

Let  us  call  to  mind  for  a  moment  the 
defects  of  the  popular  piety  in  Israel  dur- 
ing the  prophetic  times.  First  of  all,  piety 
was  then  prescribed,  mapped  out.  It  con- 
sisted in  doing  certain  things  which  were 
thought  sacred.  The  average  Hebrew  be- 
lieved himself  pious  if  he  said  his  prayers 
three  times  a  day  facing  the  temple,  if  he 
kept  prescribed  feasts  and  fasts,  if  he  offered 
customary  sacrifices  and  observed  the  regu- 
lar Sabbaths,  if  he  went  thrice  yearly  to  the 
feasts  and  joined  in  the  ritual,  if  he  gave 
gifts  to  Jehovah  and  alms  to  the  poor,  and 
if  he  kept  the  commandments  in  form  even 
though  he  broke  them  in  spirit.  Now,  there 
is  good  in  religious  forms,  but  Hebrew  piety 
was  slipping  into  barren  formalism,  so  that 
the  same  people  who  were  formally  good 
were,  in  practical  living  affairs,  actually 
wicked.  It  is  just  this  contemptible 
"piosity"  which  the  prophets  so  vehemently 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  171 

denounced.  Let  Amos  voice  the  feeling  of 
all  the  prophets  in  this  regard  when  he 
counseled:  "Seek  the  Lord,  and  ye  shall 
live;  ...  ye  who  turn  judgment  to  worm- 
wood, and  leave  off  righteousness  in  the 
earth,  ...  for  I  know  your  manifold  trans- 
gressions and  your  mighty  sins.  .  .  .  Seek 
good,  and  not  evil,  that  ye  may  live:  and 
so  the  Lord,  the  God  of  hosts,  shall  be  with 
you,  as  ye  have  spoken"  (Amos  5).  Is  not 
the  condition  at  this  hour  the  same  in  spirit 
though  different  in  form?  Millions  go  to 
mass  or  meetings,  sing  their  songs,  chant 
their  collects,  offer  their  gifts,  and  feel  reli- 
gious; while  child-labor,  sweatshop  oppres- 
sion, cutthroat  competition,  municipal  graft, 
slum  tenements,  white-slave  traffic,  and  the 
rum  evil  flourish  all  about  them;  and  the 
worst  is  that'  they  can  hardly  be  moved  with 
compassion  for  the  multitude  affected  there- 

by. 

Prophetic  piety  gripped  the  very  inner- 
most soul.  These  men  gave  and  urged  wor- 
ship in  very  truth  and  spirit.  Set  forms, 
stated  hours,  prescribed  feasts,  and  all  the 
pious  machinery  they  held  to  be  meaningless 


172  THE  PROPHETS 

noise  unless  the  very  spirit  of  life  itself  was 
true  and  genuine.  Life  in  toto  was  sacred 
and  not  given  moments  or  certain  postures, 
or  staged  days  and  seasons.  It  called  for 
constant  spiritual  renewal  at  life's  center. 
"For  mine  eyes  have  seen  the  King,  the 
Lord  of  hosts"  (Isa.  6.  5). 

THE  RELIGION  OF  PROPHET  VERSUS  PRIEST 

In  the  religion  of  the  prophets  there  was 
a  sharp  cleavage  between  the  worth  of  the 
ritual  life  and  the  value  of  the  real  life. 
With  the  priest,  the  right  sanctuary  life 
was  fundamental;  with  the  prophet,  the 
right  social  life  was  cardinal.  The  priest 
placed  sacrifices  of  beasts  foremost,  while 
he  complacently  tolerated  bad  morality;  the 
prophet  placed  morality  uppermost,  while 
he  tolerated  sacrifices  (2  Sam.  24;  Hos.  6. 
6). 

How  could  this  sacrificial  practice  have 
gained  first  place  in  the  priestly  sanction, 
if  it  were  as  objectionable  as  the  prophets 
protested?  Devout  and  conscientious  men 
do  not  perpetuate  with  vigor  wholly  worth- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  173 

less  practices  as  cardinal  issues;  for,  after 
all  is  said,  the  priests  were  devout  persons 
who  strove  to  honor  God.  It  is,  therefore, 
a  difference  of  viewpoint  honestly  held  be- 
tween priest  and  prophet  as  to  whether  the 
cardinal  issue  in  loyalty  to  God  rested  in 
ritual  righteousness  or  in  real  righteousness. 
How,  then,  shall  we  explain  the  critical  at- 
titude of  the  prophets  and  the  clinging  at- 
titude of  the  priests  toward  the  sacrificial 
cultus? 

The  sacrificial  system,  like  all  good 
things  wrongly  placed,  contained  for  Israel 
both  social  and  religious  worth  which 
priestly  zeal  had  raised  to  the  highest  pitch 
until  it  actually  superseded  morality.  There 
was  much  in  sacrifices  which  contributed  to 
the  life  of  the  ancients.  The  popular  notion 
of  eating  a  friendly  meal  with  Jehovah  satis- 
fied the  human  craving  for  divine  comrade- 
ship in  the  earthly  life.  For  what  else  is 
religion  but  living,  loving  companionship 
with  God?  "We  and  God  have  business 
with  each  other,"  said  William  James.  The 
thought  too  of  bringing  (to  the  altar)  a  gift 
which  the  worshiper  prized  highly  and 


174  THE  PROPHETS 

which  he  believed  Jehovah  would  value,  fed 
the  human  sense  of  honoring  one's  superior 
and  insuring  men  of  Deity's  continued  pro- 
tection and  favor. 

The  sacrificial  cultus  gained  sanction  and 
high  favor,  no  doubt,  also  from  the  fact  that 
it  contributed  much  to  Israel's  life.  It  was 
an  age  barren  of  a  rich,  complex  social  life, 
lacking  our  modern  conveniences  and  curses. 
The  pilgrim  feasts  at  famous  shrines  were 
social  equivalents  of  to-day.  As  every 
sacrifice  involves  a  feast  and  every  feast  a 
sacrifice,  the  sanctuary  place  was  yearly,  or 
thrice  yearly,  swarming  with  gaily  attired 
Israelites,  happy  and  sociable.  All  joined 
in  music  and  song,  laughter  and  gaiety,  eat- 
ing and  drinking,  visiting  and  worshiping. 
These  religious  feasts  became  the  social  cen- 
ters of  Israel's  life. 

No  wonder  that  the  sacrificial  feasts 
gained  great  sanctity,  and  that  they  were 
supposed  to  please  Jehovah  more  than  all 
else.  No  wonder  there  were  temptations 
to  abuse.  No  wonder  they  rose  above 
morality  in  the  heart  of  the  Canaanite  peo- 
ple. No  wonder  that  over  this  ritual  sys- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  175 

tern  the  priest  and  prophet  clashed  to  the 
bitter  end.  No  wonder  that  here  centered 
the  issues  of  church  reform.  Hence,  while 
priest  cried,  "Ritual  before  morality," 
prophet  protested,  "Morality  before  ritual." 
"To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your 
sacrifices  unto  me?  saith  the  Lord,"  cried 
the  eloquent  Isaiah.  "I  am  full  of  the 
burnt  offerings  of  rams,  and  the  fat  of  fed 
beasts;  and  I  delight  not  in  the  blood  of 
bullocks,  or  of  lambs,  or  of  he  goats.  .  .  . 
If  ye  be  willing  and  obedient,  ye  shall  eat 
the  good  of  the  land"  (Isa.  1.  11,  19). 

The  Hebraic  struggle  between  Ritualism 
and  Vitalism  as  the  church's  primary  func- 
tion culminated  in  Judaism,  a  compromise 
between  ritual  and  moral  supremacy.  The 
age  of  the  prophet  was  followed  by  the 
age  of  the  priest.  The  priest  stepped  into 
the  place  vacated  by  the  prophet.  The 
spiritual  fires  of  the  prophet  were  ex- 
changed for  the  altar  fires  of  the  priest. 
"After  all,  the  paramount  object  of  the 
church  is  neither  an  impressive  ritual,  nor 
correct  doctrinal  belief,  nor  emotional  en- 
thusiasm, nor  ecclesiastical  efficiency.  The 


176  THE  PROPHETS 

paramount  object  of  the  church  is  the  hu- 
man soul;  these  other  objects  are  secondary 
and  subsidiary." 

THE  PROPHETS'  RELIGIOUS  MYSTICISM 

In  the  religion  of  the  prophets  there  was 
what  we  may  call  the  mystical  sense.  The 
prophets,  like  all  great  spiritual  leaders, 
were  religious  mystics ;  that  is,  they  felt  and 
f  aithed  themselves  in  some  immediate,  some 
invisible,  and  often  undefined  influence 
which  touched  and  fired  their  earthly  lives 
and  made  them  partakers  of  the  timeless 
and  spaceless,  the  immaterial  and  imperish- 
able reality.  This  was  something  more  and 
better  than  merely  a  mental  solution  of  life's 
mysteries.  It  was  the  soul's  resting  place, 
where  alone  is  found  abiding  satisfaction 
for  the  troubled  heart.  This  "over-life," 
which  the  prophets  sensed,  took  the  doc- 
trinal form  in  their  theology  of  the  suprem- 
acy of  Jehovah — God  over  all  (Isa.  40). 

The  prophets  rested  with  confidence  in 
the  unchanging  purposes  of  God.  They 
believed  that  God  had  mapped  out  a  pro- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  177 

gram  and  would  carry  it  through.  While 
empires  changed  and  opinions  shifted,  the 
prophets  held  their  certainty.  They  stood 
unmoved  when  others  doubted.  They  calmly 
awaited  the  issues  when  kings  despaired  of 
the  outcome.  They  remained  serene  in  the 
face  of  insufferable  difficulties.  "In  quiet- 
ness and  in  confidence  shall  be  your 
strength"  (Isa.  30.  15).  This  mysticism 
sometimes  runs  to  excess  and  to  pantheism, 
but  it  is  not  necessary  that  it  be  so.  It  may 
also  run  to  a  sane  and  scientific  personalism 
in  nature. 

The  prophets  lived  and  behaved  as  if 
cared  for  by  some  one  invisible.  Whether 
it  is  possible  to  scientifically  prove  that  there 
be  the  One  who  cares  or  not,  the  great  un- 
assailable fact  remains  that  men  and  women 
have  such  experiences :  believe  that  they  are 
divinely  cared  for,  and  feel  themselves  sus- 
tained by  a  mighty  hand.  Such  a  sense  is 
certain  to  pitch  life  to  a  higher  key.  Blind 
Milton  felt  it  when  he  cried,  "I  cannot  write 
till  the  spirit  comes."  George  Eliot  was 
dimly  conscious  of  it  when  she  said,  "The 
best  I  have  ever  written  came  I  know  not 


178  THE  PROPHETS 

from  whence."  Was  it  not  this  same  divine 
security  which  enabled  Longfellow  to  write 
those  sweet  words  over  the  death  of  his 
child? — "Last  night  the  angels  came,  and 
little  Lucy  went  with  them."  Or  Whittier, 
with  tear-filled  eyes,  lisping  this  stanza: 

"In  thoughts  which  answer  to  my  own, 

In  words  which  reach  my  inward  ear, 
Like  whispers  from  the  void  Unknown, 
I  feel  thy  living  presence  here." 

It  was  Tennyson's  feeling,  too,  when  he 
wrote: 

"That  good  shall  fall 

At  last— far  off— at  last,  to  all, 
And  every  winter  change  to  spring." 

To  have  converse  with  God  is  not  a  fanci- 
ful theory  of  theology,  nor  is  inspiration  "a 
clot  of  blood  on  the  brain" ;  but  a  practical,^ 
solid,  undeniable  reality  experienced  by  mil-J 
lions  this  very  hour.     An  ounce  of  actual 
experience  with  God  is  worth  a  ton  of  the 
best  theory  concerning  these  matters.    One 
swallow  of  water  upon  the  lips  is  to  the 
thirsty  worth  an  ocean  full  of  theory  about 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  179 

water.    "O  taste  and  see  that  the  Lord  is 
good"  (Psa.  34.  8). 

"There  is  a  larger  view, 
There  is  a  deeper  breath, 
And  a  diviner  sound, 
Than  sense  can  e'er  reveal. 
To  see  the  glory  in  the  Infinite, 
To  feel  the  breath  of  the  Almighty, 
To  hear  the  voice  of  the  I  Am — 
This  is  to  live." 

Are  we  not  now  living  in  a  time  of  re- 
turning mysticism?  The  world  has  grown 
restless  in  the  clanking  shackles  of  material- 
ism. Matter,  force,  and  motion  to  the 
modern  mind  are  like  offering  stones  for 
bread.  They  satisfy  not.  The  sense  of  a 
great  pervasive  Presence  in  all  life  cannot 
still  the  mental  and  moral  hunger  of  the 
soul  so  long  as  it  is  pictured  as  moving  atoms 
and  abstract  force.  It  must  have  breathed 
into  it  the  breath  of  life  and  become  a  living 
soul. 

"Behind  the  dim  unknown 

Standeth  God  within  the  shadow  keeping  watch 
above  his  own." 


180  THE  PROPHETS 

"Speak  to  him,  thou,  for  he  hears,  and  spirit  with 

spirit  can  meet — 

Closer  is  he  than  breathing,   and  nearer  than 
hands  and  feet." 


Such  are  the  songs  upon  the  lips  of  modern 
poet  and  ancient  prophet  alike.  This  per- 
sonal view  answers  best  to  life's  yearning 
call.  The  best  witness  to  truth  is  found  in 
life  itself.  The  most  reliable  assumption 
concerning  the  invisible  order  is  that  one 
upon  which  the  soul  best  thrives.  Our  in- 
tuition of  God  outbids  our  cold  intellect 
about  him.  God  may  not  be  demonstrated, 
but  he  is  divined.  Science  with  all  its  noble 
work  has  sometimes  attempted  to  view  this 
world  as  a  fatalistic  mass  of  stuff  doomed  to 
eternal  recurrence.  Logic  may  seek  to 
justify,  but  life  invariably  rejects  whatever 
smothers  the  soul.  The  soul  must  have  its 
air,  food,  and  light  in  order  to  live  and 
grow,  no  less  than  must  the  body.  Every- 
where there  is  a  growing  evidence  of  a  re- 
turning faith  in  a  spiritual  reality.  Modern 
prophet,  poet,  philosopher,  and  even  the 
scientist,  invest  in  spiritual  liberty  bonds. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  181 

Philosophers  like  Royce,  Eucken,  and 
Bergson  are  dissolving  Spencer's  material- 
ism, as  a  mode  of  cosmic  activity,  into  Spirit, 
or  Life,  or  Consciousness  of  some  kind  as 
the  ultimate  reality.  Popular  books  of  fic- 
tion are  breathing  more  freely  the  spiritual 
atmosphere.  The  common  mass  is  feverishly 
attracted  by  the  psychic,  occult,  and  mys- 
tical demonstrations,  cults,  and  plays.  Wit- 
ness the  run  of  such  psychical  plays  as  The 
Mystic  Mira  in  the  leading  theaters  of  the 
day,  or  the  reading  of  Bennett's  psycho- 
logical novels.  These  are  omens  of  the  ap- 
proach of  a  new  spiritual  trend.  Though 
its  expression  be  often  sickly  and  senti- 
mental, the  spiritual  is  really  striving  to  be 
heard  and  seen. 

It  is  for  the  modern  prophet  in  the  living 
church  of  God  to  give  it  life  and  form,  so 
that  the  present  age  shall  be  able  to  view 
the  world  in  a  spiritual  setting,  in  which 
atoms  become  sparks  of  divine  life ;  force, 
divine  power;  law,  eternal  purpose;  ulti- 
mate reality,  personal  life;  and  the  great 
God  over  all.  For,  as  Emerson  said,  "The 
world  was  built  in  order  and  the  atoms 


182  THE  PROPHETS 

march  in  tune."  Then  religion  and  science, 
physics  and  ethics,  psychology  and  spiritu- 
ality, work  and  worship,  will  have  friendly 
relations  and  congenial  resting  places, 
thank  God!  We  have  reason  to  think  that 
this  is  taking  place  to-day.  Listen  to  the 
kindly  words  of  present-day  scientific  au- 
thorities. The  distinguished  scientist  Sir 
William  Thompson  has  said,  "We  are 
bound  to  come  to  the  conclusion  that  science 
is  not  antagonistic  to  religion,  but  a  help 
to  it."  The  great  physicist  Sir  Oliver 
Lodge  has  generously  recorded  his  religious 
attitude  in  these  words:  "I  believe  in  one 
infinite  and  eternal  Being,  a  guiding  and 
loving  Father  in  whom  all  things  consist." 
Professor  Meeham  has  confessed  that 
"Scientific  studies  have  strengthened  my 
faith,  strengthened  it,  indeed,  to  an  extent 
that  no  study  besides  could  have  effected" 
(Biblical  World,  July,  1916,  page  7). 

Our  greatest  living  scientists  are  strong 
believers  in  a  Personalistic  Universe  and 
friends  of  the  Christian  faith. 

The  rule  of  the  ancient  mystics  may  be  a 
fresh  call  to  the  modern  mind.  "Shut  the 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  183 

door  of  the  senses  and  open  the  inward  win- 
dows of  the  soul."    For,  as  the  poet  wrote, 

"The  world  is  too  much  with  us ;  late  and  soon 
Getting  and  spending  we  lay  waste  our  powers." 

"The  heart  of  all  religion  is  a  spiritual 
experience." 


184  THE  PROPHETS 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
POLITICS 

IN  Tom  Brown  at  Rugby  the  author  gives 
this  choice  bit  of  advice  to  the  boys  after 
one  of  their  fist  fights :  "As  to  fighting,  keep 
out  of  it  if  you  can,  by  all  means.  When 
the  time  comes,  if  it  should,  that  you  have 
to  say  'yes'  or  'no'  to  a  challenge  to  fight, 
say  'no'  if  you  can.  .  .  .  But  don't  say  'no' 
if  you  fear  a  licking;  .  .  .  and  if  you  fight, 
fight  it  out ;  and  don't  give  in  while  you  can 
stand  and  see." 

The  prophet  was  a  clear-eyed,  cool- 
headed  fighter  from  his  sandaled  feet  to  his 
sun-beaten  head.  The  prophets  were  obliged 
to  "fight."  If  they  were  to  stand  for  Israel's 
redemption,  they  had  no  choice  in  the  face 
of  political  conditions  but  to  "fight  it  out," 
not  with  fists,  but  by  faith ;  not  with  spears, 
but  by  principles.  They  loved  peace  but 
they  loved  righteousness  more.  The 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  185 

prophets  as  political  reformers  were  indeed 
men  of  dauntless  and  unbendable  fiber. 
"The  bullet  will  hit  the  mark,"  says  Emer- 
son, "which  is  first  dipped  in  the  marksman's 
blood." 

The  fearless,  forceful  prophets,  free  from 
the  bondage  of  impure  imagery,  unham- 
pered by  material  anxieties,  disentangled 
from  social  restraints,  and  independent  of 
all  patrimony,  possessed  of  only  a  few  great 
truths  which  they  held  with  towering  te- 
nacity, could  without  reserve  express  their 
honest  convictions  upon  any  and  every  sub- 
ject which  touched  the  good  of  the  Israel- 
itic  state.  This  they  did  freely  without  fear 
or  favor.  Above  all,  the  prophets  were  men 
of  the  highest  ideals,  the  clearest  discern- 
ment, and  the  sincerest  conscience. 

FACING  THE  POLITICAL  FURY 

How  often  the  modern  preacher  is  irri- 
tated, and  sometimes  intimidated  by  being 
told,  "Stick  to  the  gospel  and  let  business 
and  politics  alone."  The  real  minister 
knows  too  well  the  hypocrisy  which  lurks 
behind  such  admonition.  The  man's  busi- 


186  THE  PROPHETS 

ness  or  politics,  who  offers  the  injunction, 
is  probably  shady.  At  such  times  prudence 
hammers  at  the  door  and  sympathy  turns 
devil's  advocate.  Shall  the  man  of  God 
"measure  up  to  the  test  of  full  pews  and 
swelling  receipts"  or  speak  the  full  counsel 
of  God  and  "face  the  fury"?  The  bread- 
and-butter  prophets  were  on  hand  before  the 
time  of  Amos,  and  their  progeny  is  with  us 
at  the  present  time ;  so  are  also  the  Amoses, 
thank  God !  Modern  preachers,  like  ancient 
prophets,  face  the  same  task  of  getting  busi- 
ness and  politics  under  the  sway  of  divine 
righteousness.  As  bearers  of  the  divine 
truth  they  seek  to  bring  righteousness  into 
every  phase  of  human  life.  The  realms  of 
business  and  politics  have  largely  excluded 
the  claims  of  righteousness.  In  these  do- 
mains temptation  to  overreach  is  so  tre- 
mendous, evil  is  so  powerfully  intrenched 
behind  bulwarks  of  custom,  intrigue,  wealth, 
and  organization  that,  as  yet,  hardly  the 
first  trenches  have  been  taken  and  some  of 
these  have  been  retaken.  The  gospel  must 
find  a  welcome  in  government,  or  war  and 
wickedness  will  continue  unabated. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  187 

THE  LAW  OF  THE  JUNGLE 

There  is  work  to  be  done.  The  man  of 
God  must  hammer  the  modern  conscience 
at  the  point  of  its  unsocial  activity  until  it 
quivers  with  discomfort  and  smarts  with 
shame.  Does  not  Kipling's  Law  of  the 
Jungle  still  rule  over  the  political  domain? 

Is  it  not  strange  that  men  are  capable, 
on  the  one  hand,  of  fine  private  lives,  excel- 
lent domestic  relations,  and  even  reverent 
church  devotions,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  same  persons  can  complacently  carry  on 
political  or  business  careers  by  the  laws  of 
the  jungle?  This  they  frequently  do,  or 
seem  to  do,  without  inner  distresses  of  con- 
science. What  does  such  a  condition  imply? 
Does  it  not  indicate  that  the  message  of  the 
past  has  been  mainly  the  gospel  of  private 
righteousness?  Does  it  not  also  mean  that 
the  gospel  of  political  righteousness  has  been 
neglected?  The  same  standards  of  life,  the 
same  principles  of  conduct  are  not  applied 
in  private  and  public  life.  "Politics  is 
politics  and  business  is  business,"  is  the  dic- 
tum. These  two  ungospeled  far  countries 


188  THE  PROPHETS 

must  be  invaded  and  evangelized  by  a  fear- 
less political  gospel  of  downright  rectitude. 
The  modern  clergyman  feels  that  Hodder, 
the  rector  of  Saint  John's,  is  voicing  his 
soul:  "Ye 're  going  to  preach  all  this?"  Mc- 
Crea  demanded,  almost  fiercely.  "Yes," 
Hodder  replied,  "and  more.  ...  If  it  were 
merely  a  matter  of  doctrine,  I  would  resign. 
It's  deeper  than  that,  more  sinister."  Hod- 
der doubled  up  his  hand  and  laid  it  on  the 
table.  "It's  a  matter,"  he  said,  looking  into 
McCrea's  eyes,  "of  freeing  this  church  from 
those  who  now  hold  it  in  chains,  and  the  two 
questions  I  now  see  clearly — the  doctrinal 
and  the  economic — are  so  interwoven  as  to 
be  inseparable." 

PRIVATE  GOOD  AND  CORPORATE  GREED 

Men  of  our  time  must  be  made  to  feel 
that  they  are  bad,  infernally  bad,  unless 
they  are  as  good  in  corporate  and  political 
conduct  as  they  are  in  domestic  relations, 
and  that  they  apply  the  same  moral  laws 
as  rigidly  in  the  one  as  in  the  other.  In  the 
enormous  social  complexity,  the  fierce  eco- 
nomic conflict,  the  unabated  modern  radical- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  189 

ism,  the  caustic  appeals  to  class  hatred,  and 
the  breakdown  of  old  forms  of  authority, 
there  is  urgent  need  for  daring,  determined, 
eloquent,  spiritual  leaders  who  see  the  issues 
clearly  and  who  will  put  them  compellingly 
to  the  modern  conscience.  There  must  be 
an  appeal  to  conscience  which  will  win. 

How  shall  we  account  for  the  keen  pro- 
phetic interest  in  matters  of  state?  What 
was  there  in  the  faith  of  the  prophets  that 
made  them  extend  their  divine  mission  to 
political  reform?  Several  elements  appear 
with  prominence. 

PROPHETIC  APPEAL  TO  NATIONAL  LIFE 

The  prophet  regarded  himself  as  the 
divine  ambassador  to  the  divinely  chosen 
people  in  their  national  life.  The  people  of 
Israel  believed  that  the  prophet  was  com- 
missioned of  God  to  furnish  guidance  in  the 
political  turmoil  of  that  age.  He  could  not, 
therefore,  escape  being  a  political  agitator. 
Matters  of  state  fell  naturally  under  the 
prophetic  mission.  Inevitably,  therefore,  in 
every  national  struggle  he  fought  for  Israel's 


190  THE  PROPHETS 

national  preservation.  The  Hebrew  state 
was  looked  upon  as  a  necessary  agency  to 
help  Israel  forward  in  its  march  to  the  City 
of  God. 

PROPHETIC    APPEAL    THROUGH    THE 
CHURCH  IN  THE  STATE 

The  political  activity  of  the  prophet  was 
further  wrapped  up  in  his  religion  because 
Israel's  religion  found  expression  in  a  state 
church.  There  was  no  thought  in  Israel, 
as  with  us,  of  a  sharp  separation  between 
church  and  state,  religion  and  politics.  Be- 
fore the  exile  to  Babylon  the  state  controlled 
the  church;  after  the  exile  the  church  ruled 
the  state.  In  preexile  times  the  king  often 
usurped  priestly  functions;  in  postexile 
times  the  priest  played  the  role  of  king. 
The  interests  of  state  and  church  merged. 
They  seemed  never  to  have  been  clearly  de- 
fined; their  respective  boundary  lines  were 
never  definitely  surveyed  and  marked  off 
from  each  other.  Since  the  religious  life  of 
his  people  was  so  dependent  upon  the  state, 
politics  and  the  good  of  the  state  found 
large  interests  in  the  prophet's  activity. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  191 

PROPHETIC  PLEA  FOR  POLITICAL  IDEAS 
The  prophet  found  political  activity  at- 
tractive also  because  his  consuming  concern 
was  the  glory  and  the  perpetuity  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  Most  prophets  were  far 
more  eager  to  save  the  national  life  of 
Israel  as  Jehovah's  chosen  people,  than  to 
save  individual  Israelites.  They  had,  of 
course,  concern  for  the  individual  and  his 
good,  but,  primarily,  in  view  of  his  mem- 
bership in  the  state.  The  individual  was  of 
worth  to  the  state,  but  had  no  significance 
apart  from  the  nation.  Jehovah  was,  there- 
fore, most  often  thought  of  under  the 
figures  of  King  (Psa.  24.  10),  Ruler  (Isa. 
9.  16),  Judge  (Psa.  75.  15),  Prince  (Isa. 
9.  6).  Hence,  the  religious  figures  were 
figures  of  state  and  state  rulers.  Jehovah 
was  Supreme  Ruler,  whose  will  was  law,  and 
whose  purpose  was  Israel's  goal.  Only  ad- 
herence to  the  divine  ideal  would  insure 
national  glory.  This  is  good  doctrine  for 
any  nation. 

PROPHETIC  POLITICAL  PRINCIPLES 
What  were  the  political  principles  held 


192  THE  PROPHETS 

dear  by  the  Hebrew  prophets?  They  cer- 
tainly did  not  struggle  for  the  mere  con- 
tinuance of  the  nation.  They  held  that  the 
perpetuity  of  Israel's  national  life  rested 
upon  certain  eternal  principles  which  under- 
lay all  sound  government.  What,  then,  did 
the  prophets  strive  to  attain  in  their  political 
reforms  ? 

The  Hebrew  kings  and  nobles  all  too 
often  relied  upon  material  strength  for 
national  success  and  safety.  The  size  of 
armies,  the  safety  in  walls,  the  astuteness  of 
diplomacy,  the  splendor  of  courts,  and  the 
matrimonial  ties  with  surrounding  nations 
constituted  their  principal  defenses.  The 
prophets,  on  the  other  hand,  almost  uni- 
formly placed  their  chief  reliance  for  na- 
tional safety  upon  the  loyalty  to  Jehovah's 
will,  trust  in  Divine  Providence,  purity  and 
integrity  in  private  life,  justice  and  mercy 
in  social  obligations,  majesty  of  law,  and 
the  equality  of  every  Hebrew  in  the  guaran- 
tee of  his  rights.  The  age-long  struggle 
between  kings  and  prophets  centered  about 
these  two  views  of  national  security.  It  is 
the  old  human  struggle  between  material 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  193 

and  spiritual  supremacy  in  the  earth.  Kings 
were  concerned  with  things  of  the  passing 
moment,  the  prophets  wrought  for  endur- 
ing ethical  foundations. 

The  prophets  championed  the  cause  of 
national  liberty  for  the  good  of  all  the  peo- 
ple against  the  usurpations  of  ambitious 
rulers  and  aggressive  national  neighbors. 
Several  matters  claimed  attention  in  order 
to  safeguard  Israel's  liberties. 

COMPETENT  LEADERSHIP 

The  prophets  took  an  active  hand  in 
securing  competent  leaders  for  the  nation. 
Prophets  became  king-makers.  Samuel 
selected  Saul  and  David  (1  Sam.  9.  17;  16. 
12-13) ;  Nathan  used  his  political  strength 
in  the  royal  intrigues  at  David's  death  to 
advance  Solomon  to  the  throne  over  the 
older  son,  Adonijah  (1  Kings  1.  22-41)  ; 
Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  played  important  parts 
in  the  councils  of  state  (Isa.  7,  8).  Thus, 
the  political  activities  of  prophets  helped  to 
make  and  unmake  kings  and  to  mold  the 
fortunes  of  the  Hebrew  state.  The  key  to 
modern  reform  is  competent  leadership. 


194  THE  PROPHETS 


PROPERTY  PROTECTION 

The  prophets  undertook  to  guard  the  an- 
cient rights  of  the  Hebrew  landowners 
against  the  growing  aggressions  of  power- 
ful kings  and  nobles.  The  ancient  law  of 
Israel  held  every  man's  homestead  sacred 
and  inviolable.  When,  therefore,  King 
Ahab  was  disappointed  in  an  attempt  to  buy 
Naboth's  vineyard,  a  small  homestead  of 
a  humble  Israelite,  which  the  king  wanted 
in  order  to  enlarge  his  royal  grounds,  his 
daring  queen,  Jezebel,  by  intrigue,  procured 
it  for  him.  The  matter  might  have  passed 
and  a  dangerous  precedent  have  been  estab- 
lished which  succeeding  kings  might  have 
usurped  in  confiscating  small  farms  for  their 
royal  estate.  But  the  dramatic  prophet 
Elijah  fearlessly  and  vehemently  defended 
the  sacred  right  of  property — and  thus  pre- 
vented a  ruthless  policy  of  political  pilfer- 
ing of  small  landholders.  Through  the 
political  opposition  of  Elijah  and  Elisha, 
the  reigning  house  of  Ahab  was  eventually 
overthrown,  its  members  destroyed,  and  the 
new  house  of  Jehu  established  in  Israel  (1 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  195 

Kings  19;  2  Kings  9).  For  five  hundred 
years  thereafter  the  prophets  stood  boldly 
against  unjust  aggressions  of  the  rich  and 
the  secularization  of  life  by  visionless  priests. 
The  prophets  stood  unalterably  opposed  to 
all  autocratic  rule  in  Israel.  They  jealously 
protested  against  forced  labor,  heathen  im- 
portation, and  kingly  tolerance  of  foreign 
religious  cults  and  customs.  Hence  the 
God-fearing  prophet  stood  between  pluto- 
crats and  people,  kings  and  serfs,  politicians 
and  poverty.  Ahab  spoke  of  Elijah  as  "he 
that  troubleth  Israel"  (1  Kings  18.  17). 

EVILS  OF  ENTANGLING  ALLIANCES 

The  prophets,  moreover,  pleaded  for  na- 
tional aloofness.  They  had  no  faith  in  en- 
tangling alliances.  Hence,  they  counseled 
freedom  from  all  secret  compacts  with  other 
nations.  They  preached  trust  in  Jehovah 
and  the  building  of  the  state  upon  the  en- 
during foundations  of  justice,  freedom, 
mercy,  and  loyalty  to  the  Supreme  God. 
Thus,  when  political  disaster  threatened  the 
state,  the  prophets  availed  themselves  of  the 


196  THE  PROPHETS 

opportunity  to  urge  upon  them  Jehovah's 
demand  for  social  morality  and  spiritual 
worship.  The  ancient  prophet  saw  in  the 
long,  long  ago  what  is  sun-clear  now  in  the 
European  turmoil — that  "secret  alliances" 
and  "balance  of  power"  are  unsafe  political 
counsels  (Isa.  30.  1-7). 

Victor  Hugo  once  wrote  that  the  voice  of 
the  people  is  a  fearful  and  sacred  voice, 
which  is  composed  of  the  roar  of  the  brute 
and  the  speech  of  God  that  terrifies  the 
feeble  and  warns  the  wise.  "The  voice  of 
God"  is,  of  course,  not  always  reflected  in 
the  "voice  of  the  people,"  but,  in  the  long 
run,  it  is  safer  than  the  "divine  right  of 
kings."  No  self-constituted  class  of  per- 
sons is  or  can  be  wise  and  good  enough  to 
fix  the  political  good  of  all. 

The  prophets,  however,  seemed  to  believe 
that  God's  spirit  was  so  diffused  through 
the  life  of  Israel  as  to  make  the  people's 
fundamental  cry  the  call  of  God.  They  saw 
in  the  mingling,  combining,  colliding  con- 
fusion of  popular  party  struggles  a  mighty 
divine  tide  sweeping  on  to  the  supreme  goal 
of  a  glorious  kingdom  of  God.  After  every 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  197 

ebb  and  tide  there  comes  "flooding  in  the 
main;  and  God's  will  is  more  perfectly  done 
in  terms  of  human  life." 


THE  STRUGGLE  FOR  MASTERY 

In  Israel's  midst  there  were  two  opposing 
forces  struggling  for  mastery.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  conservatives — time-serving  self- 
ish aristocracy  which  usually  found  kings 
and  politicians  their  representatives,  then 
as  now;  on  the  other  hand,  the  progressives 
— liberty-loving,  independent  minority 
which  found  expression  through  the  sturdy 
prophets.  The  conflict  raged  with  terrific 
blows  of  fierce  eloquence  by  the  one  and 
intimidating  brute  force  by  the  other.  Then, 
as  is  the  case  among  us  now,  these  two 
tendencies  struggled  for  supremacy  in  the 
life  of  the  government.  They  lie,  have  al- 
ways lain,  at  the  roots  of  human  life.  "The 
uprising  of  the  people,"  Roosevelt  once 
said,  "is  mightier  and  wiser  than  conserva- 
tive law."  Aggressive  personalities  like 
Lincoln,  rising  from  the  common  people, 
led  the  popular  unrest  to  victory. 


198  THE  PROPHETS 

THE  BETTER  WORLD  IN  THE  MAKING 

Is  it  not  this  divine  tide  that  has  been  ris- 
ing, ever  rising  through  the  centuries,  which 
has  swept  away  many  ancient  oppressions 
— slavery,  feudalism,  dueling,  and  serfdom? 
Other  oppressions,  more  modern,  are  crack- 
ing and  crumbling  under  the  pitiless  modern 
exposures  by  painters  and  poets,  prophets 
and  preachers,  philosophers  and  novelists, 
statesmen  and  reformers.  An  old  English 
adage  has  it: 

"The  law  makes  that  man  a  felon 

Who  steals  a  goose  from  the  common ; 
But  leaves  the  greater  felons  loose 
Who  steal  the  common  from  the  goose." 

By  means  of  new  forms  of  exploitation 
under  democracy,  while  we  have  shouted 
ourselves  hoarse  about  the  great  American 
principles  of  democracy — freedom  of  wor- 
ship, freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  con- 
tract— the  monopoly  of  big  business  has 
forged  the  shackles  of  "moneyed  plutoc- 
racy" about  our  feet.  "We  are  face  to 
face  with  this  burning  issue,"  writes  a  recent 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  199 

economist;  "shall  our  civilization  be  help- 
fully democratic  or  selfishly  plutocratic,  with 
millions  of  the  people  paying  tribute  to 
corporations,  whose  possession  of  natural 
resources  and  control  of  strategic  advan- 
tages enable  them  to  dictate  prices  and  fat- 
ten at  the  public  expense?"  "Coal  fields, 
timber  belts,  mechanical  trades,  farm  prod- 
ucts," writes  another,  "have  all  passed  into 
monopolistic  control  for  a  song."  Yet  an- 
other writes,  "It  strikes  at  the  roots  of 
democracy." 

How  are  the  present  living  problems  in 
the  political  and  social  turmoil  to  be  solved? 
The  oppressions  of  pooled  wealth,  the  men- 
ace of  class  hatred,  the  fury  of  organized 
violence,  the  shame  of  city  slums,  the  foul- 
ness of  crowded  tenements,  the  corporate 
exploitation  of  amusements,  and  the  pluto- 
cratic control  of  the  press — these  are  new 
forms  of  the  ancient  oppressions  which  call 
for  new  applications  of  the  old  prophetic 
spirit  and  principles  to  solve  them.  The 
modern  preacher,  like  the  ancient  prophet, 
is  called  upon  to  interpret  these  problems  in 
the  light  of  eternal  demands.  God  hates  in- 


200  THE  PROPHETS 

justice  and  wrong  in  every  form  and  under 
every  name.  The  eternal  issue  is  drawn; 
religion  and  politics,  economics  and  ethics, 
education  and  science,  ideality  and  prac- 
ticality, prayer  and  progress,  God  and  man, 
clergyman  and  congressman,  all  mingle  in 
the  turmoil.  Out  of  the  dust  and  smoke  of 
the  struggle  progress  is  perceived.  Our  God 
is  marching  on,  and  so  is  humanity.  "The 
prophet  made  an  inestimable  contribution 
to  the  life  of  the  state,  but  the  life  of  the 
state  was  an  imperative  necessity  to  the 
prophet."  We  have  set  ourselves  the  task 
of  making  democracy  real  and  thoroughgo- 
ing. We  now  dream  of  making  "the  world 
safe  for  democracy."  The  church  must 
make  democracy  safe  for  the  world  by  mak- 
ing it  Christian. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  201 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
PREDICTIONS 

THE  coming  of  the  prophets  into  the 
midst  of  Israel  pitched  her  religious  inter- 
ests upon  the  borderland  of  the  future.  The 
hoary  past  and  the  vivid  present  were  tele- 
scoped into  the  lurid  future.  The  prophets 
believed,  and  it  was  believed  of  them,  that 
they  could  tap  the  unseen  world  of  its 
secrets  (Ezek.  7).  For  this  reason,  they 
were  held  in  highest  esteem  in  Israel  and 
were  frequently  consulted  on  matters  of  im- 
portance relating  to  the  future.  We,  no 
doubt,  revere  the  prophets  most  on  account 
of  their  godly  lives  and  their  moral  integrity, 
but  the  Hebrew  people  thought  otherwise. 
To  them  the  moral  elevation  of  the  prophets 
was  mostly  unwelcome,  while  their  insight 
into  the  hidden  mysteries  of  the  future  gave 
them  standing  (1  Kings  22). 


202  THE  PROPHETS 

It  was  an  ancient  belief  that  God  had  all 
knowledge  of  the  future  as  of  the  past,  and 
that  sometimes,  when  he  chose  to  do  so,  he 
revealed  such  knowledge  to  the  prophets 
(Amos  3.  7).  People  consequently  sought 
the  prophets  with  gifts  in  order  to  learn 
whether  some  proposed  enterprise  would 
prove  successful  or  not  (1  Sam.  9.  5-14). 
Mankind  has  always  loved  a  mystery  and, 
above  everything  else,  a  glimpse  into  the 
future,  for  there  lie  life's  hidden  secrets. 
That  is  why  every  age  has  had  its  seers,  its 
fortune  tellers,  its  soothsayers,  and  its 
palmists  who  deal  in  future  events  (Luke  1. 
70 ).  It  is  well  to  remind  ourselves  at  this 
point,  that  while  Israel  had  thousands  of 
seers  and  prophets,  true  and  false,  less  than 
a  score  of  them  rose  to  high  worth  and  last- 
ing fame.  "Mine  heart  within  me  is  broken 
because  of  the  prophets;  .  .  .  for  both 
prophet  and  priest  are  profane,"  Jeremiah 
complained  (Jer.  23.  9,  11).  As  for  the 
bread-and-butter  prophets,  they  were  little 
more  than  Oriental  fortune-tellers,  predict- 
ing for  pay  (1  Kings  14.  22;  Jer.  23). 
Hence  when  we  talk  about  the  prophets  we 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  203 

usually  have  in  mind  the  noble  few  who  rose 
to  religious  eminence  in  Israel  and  whose 
writings  constitute  at  the  present  the  loftiest 
spiritual  literature  in  the  Old  Testament. 

USE  AND  ABUSE  OF  PREDICTION 

Did  the  prophets  forecast  future  events 
in  an  extraordinary  manner?  No  one,  I 
think,  can  carefully  and  candidly  read  the 
prophetic  records  of  the  Old  Testament 
without  being  aware  of  the  intuitive  sweep 
of  vision  that  passes  at  times  across  the 
borderland  of  bare  human  insight.  The 
ordinary  visual  limit  is  transcended  by  these 
men;  not  always,  not  even  generally,  but 
sometimes,  they  scan  the  horizon  like  a 
searchlight  and  expose  dark  corners  far  dis- 
tant from  the  place  and  time  they  occupy. 
At  such  rare  moments  they  speak  in  the  sure 
consciousness  of  men  who  have  learned  of 
God;  they  appear  to  stand  in  the  presence 
of  unborn  generations,  and,  like  Bellamy's 
Looking  Backward,  describe  anticipatory 
events  as  if  they  constituted  past  history. 
Furthermore,  there  appears  upon  the  his- 
toric horizon  no  other  group  of  men  of  equal 


204  THE  PROPHETS 

inspirational  foresight  in  matters  of  national 
movements.  In  this  regard  the  Hebrew 
prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  were  nothing 
less  than  unique. 

Bible  incidents  are  not  wanting  in  which 
both  good  and  bad  uses  of  divine  secrets  are 
made.  Take,  for  instance,  the  left-handed 
Ehud,  a  crafty  warrior  of  Benjamin,  who, 
in  order  to  secure  audience  with  the  king  of 
Moab,  pretended  to  have  a  secret  message 
from  God  (Judg.  3.  20).  By  playing  the 
role  of  a  prophet,  Ehud  disarmed  Eglon  of 
suspicion,  which  cost  the  fat  king  his  life 
(Judg.  3.  21).  Again,  Jonathan  pierced 
the  future  by  means  of  a  dream  (1  Sam.  14. 
9),  as  did  also  the  false  prophets  (Jer.  23. 
25).  Saul,  his  superstitious  father,  invoked 
the  crude  primitive  devices  of  heathen  witch- 
craft to  ascertain  the  future  (1  Sam.  14. 
18) .  Even  David,  the  man  after  God's  own 
heart  (1  Chron.  28.  9),  sought  divine  knowl- 
edge by  means  of  omens  (1  Sam.  23.  1-6). 
The  great  prophets,  however,  as  we  have 
seen,  discarded  all  heathen  devices  for  gain- 
ing divine  knowledge  and  relied  solely  upon 
inner  convictions  of  truth  born  by  direct 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  205 

spiritual  communion  with  God.  "The 
prophet  that  hath  a  dream,  let  him  tell  a 
dream;  and  he  that  hath  my  word,  let  him 
speak  my  word  faithfully"  (Jer.  23.  28). 

Godly  men,  who  thus  felt  themselves  up- 
born of  God  and  could  and  would  reveal  the 
future,  cannot  be  at  this  distant  age  easily 
estimated  in  regard  to  their  predictive  ac- 
tivity unless  several  important  facts  relating 
to  their  personality  and  to  the  popular  be- 
liefs of  their  times  be  taken  into  account. 

The  prophets  were  by  birthright  excep- 
tional persons:  men  of  genius,  men  capable 
of  feeling  profoundly,  seeing  clearly,  think- 
ing strongly,  acting  promptly,  and  antici- 
pating accurately  (2  Sam.  12). 

The  prophets  were  men  of  the  hour, 
molded  by  their  times,  called  out  of  great 
circumstances ;  such  as  Nathan,  in  the  crisis 
of  David  (2  Sam.  12),  Elijah  in  the  strug- 
gles of  Ahab  (1  Kings  17),  and  Isaiah  in 
the  hour  of  national  conflict  (Isa.  7,  8). 
Men  of  decisive  character  know  how  to  act 
in  rare  moments.  Mr.  Plimpton,  Eldon 
Parr's  paid  peacemaker's  characterization 
of  John  Hodder,  reminds  one  of  the  prophet 


206  THE  PROPHETS 

of  old:  "That's  just  it.  Hodder  seems  to 
me,  now  that  I  come  to  think  about  it,  just 
the  kind  of  John  Brown  type  who  wouldn't 
hesitate  to  get  into  a  row  with  Eldon  Parr 
if  he  thought  it  were  right,  and  pull  down 
any  amount  of  disagreeable  stuff  about  our 


ears." 


The  prophetic  atmosphere,  the  social  en- 
vironment provided  a  rich  spiritual  setting 
for  their  lives.  The  prophets,  for  the  most 
part,  were  either  disciples  of  former 
prophets  or  members  of  priestly  families  of 
prophetic  guilds  (2  Kings  2.  3-5;  1  Sam. 
19.  20;  1  Kings  22.  23;  Amos  7.  14). 

A  DIVINELY  ORDERED  HISTORY 

They  were  conscious  of  moving  in  a 
divinely  ordered  history  which  they  strove 
to  interpret  in  the  light  of  an  unfolding 
process.  Jehovah  planned  that  history, 
hence  they  could  anticipate  God's  move- 
ments for  the  future,  obeying  the  same 
moral  law  as  in  the  past.  God  himself 
stood  over  against  their  souls  assuring  them. 
The  history  of  Israel  "was  unique ;  prophecy 
was  consequently  of  divine  origin;  both  hu- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  207 

man,  both  divine  to  the  same  extent."  Pre- 
dictions are  then  to  be  expected  from  men 
set  in  a  divine  movement. 

USE  or  PREDICTIVE  POWER 

Power  to  predict  the  distant  future  was 
neither  an  essential  nor  a  common  function 
of  the  regular  prophets.  (1)  The  earliest 
and  latest  prophets  exercised  this  gift  most. 
The  mightiest  of  them  were  sparing  in  dis- 
tant foreclosures;  Samuel,  for  instance,  fore- 
told immediate  future  personal  events,  while 
the  later  prophets  dealt  in  distant  national 
movements.  (2)  The  age  of  lowest  pro- 
phetic level  predicted  most;  and  (3)  the 
false  prophets  indulged  more  freely  in  fore- 
telling events  than  did  the  true.  Therefore 
the  predictive  function  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered an  essential  mark  of  the  prophet. 
This  gift  was  at  most  occasional  with  the 
mighty  men  of  God,  at  least  so  far  as  de- 
tailed, definite,  and  distant  predictions  are 
concerned,  such  as  appear  in  the  book  of 
Daniel,  which  has  become  a  productive  place 
of  some  modern  exegetical  adventurers,  who 
lead  curious  seekers  on  hazardous  excursions 


208  THE  PROPHETS 

through    the    mystical    mazes    of    biblical 
apocalypses. 

THE  IDEAL  ONE  OF  GOD 

The  prophets  more  and  more  pooled  He- 
brew hope  of  the  future  in  an  ideal  of  divine 
deliverance  through  a  chosen  person  whom 
God  should  clothe  with  power  for  the  reali- 
zation of  all  their  hopes  (Isa.  53).  This 
prophetic  hope  found  its  complete  answer  in 
Jesus,  whom  they  foretold  in  ideal  outlines, 
rather  than  in  exact  details.  The  appear- 
ance of  Jesus,  the  Christ,  was  as  much 
greater  and  grander  than  prophetic  fore- 
casts as  the  sun  is  more  glorious  than  dawn. 
God  enabled  the  prophets  to  give  the  form; 
but  Jesus  filled  in  the  details.  In  Christ, 
prophetic  hope  took  form;  in  Jesus,  Israel's 
noblest  ideal  became  flesh  and  "dwelt  among 
us"  (John  1.  14). 

How,  then,  shall  we  understand  predic- 
tive prophecy?  What  was  the  divine  pur- 
pose in  foretelling  events,  and  in  what  pre- 
cise manner  did  they  foretell  events?  Their 
primary  aim  was  to  encourage  and  to  warn ; 
to  spur  to  right  action,  or  to  halt  a  wrong 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  209 

course.  Predictive  prophecy  can  best  be  un- 
derstood in  this  light  as  an  appeal  to  popu- 
lar needs  of  the  prophet's  day.  Hence, 
in  evil  times  they  dwelt  often  and  glow- 
ingly upon  a  future  realization  of  Israel's 
ideal,  or  they  predicted  some  future  wrath 
of  God  to  be  visited  upon  the  corrupt 
world. 

With  these  facts  in  mind  we  are  now  bet- 
ter prepared  to  estimate  prophetic  predic- 
tions. We  turn,  then,  to  the  predictive  liter- 
ature most  often  drawn  from  by  present-day 
adventurers  in  "predictive  signs"  and  "ful- 
fillments." Readers  are  not  generally 
aware  of  the  fact  that  our  modern  predictive 
jugglers  draw  almost  entirely  from  the  Jew- 
ish writings  incorporated  in  certain  pro- 
phetic books,  which  writings  scholars  regard 
as  doubtfully  prophetic  or  of  a  low  grade 
of  prophetism.  When  the  blind  lead  the 
blind  it  is  with  the  usual  result  that  both 
fall  in  the  ditch.  Sections  in  the  late  minor 
prophets  bear  the  same  earmarks,  as  does  a 
vast  extent  of  the  Jewish  literature  found 
in  non-biblical  books,  which  goes  under  the 
name  of  "apocalyptic  literature." 


210  THE  PROPHETS 

CHARACTER  OF  PREDICTIVE  LITERATURE 

When  one  turns  from  the  writings  of  the 
great  social  prophets,  Amos,  Isaiah,  Hosea, 
and  Jeremiah,  to  Daniel,  Zachariah,  Ezekiel, 
Malachi,  and  Joel,  a  sharp  change  is  ex- 
perienced. (1)  The  style  of  the  former 
writings  is  simple,  direct,  and  convincing, 
while  the  latter  writings  are  often  fanciful, 
mysterious,  literal,  and  full  of  imagery. 
(2)  The  subject  matter  in  which  they  are 
interested  likewise  differs  markedly.  The 
former  group  emphasizes  the  social  right- 
eousness; vehemently  denounces  the  sins  of 
the  times;  and  proclaims  divine  punishment 
for  sin.  The  latter  group  emphasizes  the 
hopeless  evil  of  the  present  age,  the  super- 
natural glory  and  good  of  the  new  age  which 
is  anticipated,  swift  and  severe  judgment 
upon  God's  enemies,  a  rich  and  full  Mes- 
sianic element,  and  a  vivid  sense  of  heaven 
and  heavenly  beings.  (3)  They  differ  again 
in  their  objects.  The  earlier  prophets  de- 
nounce the  sinful  classes  in  Israel  and  call 
for  immediate  reform.  The  latter  prophets 
mainly  encourage  the  faithful  to  hold  on 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  211 

until  the  Great  Day  of  Jehovah  should 
bring  speedy  relief  from  the  present  intol- 
erable conditions  of  God's  people. 

This  latter  form  of  prophecy  incorporates 
not  a  little  of  the  so-called  "apocalyptic" 
writings,  which  are  hidden  and  figurative  in 
character  and  which  had  to  do  with  secrets 
of  earth,  heaven,  and  the  future.  For 
several  centuries  this  type  of  sacred  writings 
flourished  among  the  Jews  and  was  most 
abundant  in  times  of  sharp  collision  with 
the  great  world  empires,  Persia,  Greece,  and 
Rome.  In  fact,  nearly  all  of  the  prophetic 
writings,  from  the  exile  to  the  opening  of 
the  Christian  era,  contain  a  liberal  sprink- 
ling of  prophetic  apocalypses. 

These  fall  into  two  distinct  types:  (1) 
those  describing  a  speedy  vindication  of 
God's  people;  (2)  those  announcing  divine 
judgments  upon  the  heathen.  Such  sec- 
tions as  Isaiah  24-27,  34-35,  40-66  are 
among  the  fullest  and  finest  expressions  of 
the  national  hope  sustained  by  the  older 
prophetic  creed.  Such  sections  reflect  pro- 
phetic confidence  in  God's  purpose  for  his 
people.  This  purpose  was  to  be  accom- 


212  THE  PROPHETS 

plished  through  coming  judgments,  a  day 
of  vengeance,  the  hope  of  the  remnant,  and 
the  expected  Redeemer. 

In  this  predictive  literature  the  wrath  of 
God  on  wicked  nations  and  the  perfect 
blessedness  of  God's  people  in  the  -future  are 
successively  described  in  graphic  pictures. 
Zechariah  1  to  8  richly  pictures  the  wealth 
of  nations  flowing  to  Jerusalem  and  the 
glory  of  the  temple.  Chapters  9  to  14  de- 
scribe the  distress  that  is  to  precede  the  com- 
ing of  God's  kingdom.  The  book  of  Daniel 
contains  a  series  of  predictions  of  the  fate 
of  Oriental  empires  (7-12),  and  not  the 
fate  of  the  present  European  nations. 

READING  THE  SIGNS 

How  shall  the  Bible  student  in  our  day 
treat  this  apocalyptic  literature?  First  of 
all,  one  may  observe  that  the  predictions 
were  either  largely  in  the  nature  of  ideal- 
ized hopes  to  be  realized  in  the  near  future, 
or  historic  rehearsals  to  reassure  the  droop- 
ing hope  in  trying  times.  The  prophets' 
messages  projected  into  the  future  also,  be- 
cause the  prophets  could  foresee  the  result 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  213 

of  the  forces  at  work.  Every  moral  act  is  like 
a  locomotive — it  draws  a  whole  train  of 
events  after  it.  Though  they  generally 
preached  to  their  age,  they  sometimes  saw 
visions  of  things  to  be,  because  moral  law 
is  uniform.  This  is  to  some  extent  the  case 
with  preachers  of  every  age.  We  have  a 
saying,  "Coming  events  cast  their  shadows 
before."  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  his  last  debate 
with  Douglas  in  the  fall  of  1858,  asserted: 
"That  is  the  real  issue — the  eternal  struggle 
between  right  and  wrong.  It  is  the  same 
principle  in  whatever  shape  it  develops  it- 
self. It  is  the  same  principle  that  says, 
'You  toil  and  work  and  earn  bread,  and  I'll 
eat  it.'  That  is  the  issue  that  will  continue 
in  this  country  when  these  poor  tongues  of 
Judge  Douglas  and  myself  shall  be  silent." 
We  find  ourselves  in  the  heat  of  that  strug- 
gle now.  Whether  in  Lincoln  or  in  Isaiah, 
it  is  the  conviction  that  the  conflict  must  go 
on  until  settled  right  because  God  is  right 
and  his  purposes  cannot  fail. 

THE  BEST  Is  YET  TO  BE 
Prediction   rests   first   of  all  upon  un- 


214  THE  PROPHETS 

shaken  confidence  in  the  soundness  of  the 
world's  ethical  order.  The  prophetic  creed 
begat  prophetic  confidence.  His  faith  found 
fullness  in  the  future.  That  which  ought 
to  be  could  be  and  would  be.  The  ideal 
must  some  time  become  the  real.  Modern 
prophetic  voices  cry  out  in  similar  strains: 
"God  is  marching  on";  "His  purpose  runs 
through  the  lengthening  years";  There  is 
"one  far-off  divine  event,  to  which  the  whole 
creation  moves";  "No  good  is  ever  lost;  that 
which  was,  is,  and  ever  shall  be";  "The  best 
is  yet  to  be."  So  lisp  the  poets  and  the 
prophets,  preachers  and  statesmen  in  every 
time.  Even  a  skeptical  scientist,  Thomas 
Edison,  could  say  many  years  ago:  "It  is 
very  clear  to  me  that  within  the  next  half 
century  science  will  abolish  night.  Physic- 
ally and  morally,  science  will  make  the 
world  over,  and  the  best  part  of  the  great 
triumph  will  be  witnessed,  I  believe,  within 
the  next  fifty  years."  We  are  seeing  this 
scientific  prophecy  fulfilled.  Is  he  not,  like 
the  rest,  borne  on  by  a  confident  trust  in  the 
dependable  order  of  nature  and  nature's 
laws? 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  215 

FAITH'S  BORDERLAND  OF  TO-MORROW 

To  the  prophet,  sin,  suffering,  and  misery 
were  the  most  stubborn,  ugly,  persistent, 
and  damaging  facts  in  the  world.  The 
prophet  had  also  a  deep  ineradicable  con- 
viction that  sin,  suffering,  and  misery  did 
not  belong  in  the  original  world  order.  They 
can  and  must  be  eradicated,  for  God  is 
against  them.  He,  therefore,  confidently 
looked  forward  to  a  better  day  when  peace 
and  plenty,  right  and  love  should  reign. 
Every  age  of  humanity  has  felt  that  these 
enemies  of  society  are  intrusions  which  do 
not  properly  belong  to  the  order  which  God 
has  planned.  Hence  every  great  leader,  re- 
former, preacher,  in  the  dark  hours  of  his 
age,  has  turned  his  face  to  the  future  for 
relief,  and  pitched  his  faith  on  the  border- 
land of  the  to-morrow.  It  was  under  such 
conditions  of  mind  that  Plato  wrote  his  Re- 
public, Moore  his  Utopia,  Bellamy  his 
Looking  Backward,  and  Jane  Addams  her 
Spirit  of  Youth. 

In  Israel's  history,  a  long  line  of  prophets, 
touched  by  the  power  of  God,  for  five  cen- 


216  THE  PROPHETS 

turies  before  Christ's  day  prophesied  the 
good  time  coming  by  the  hand  of  God's 
"anointed."  The  darker  the  national  life 
grew,  the  higher  rose  the  hope  of  a  glorious 
future  in  the  prophet's  vision  until  the  Jews 
became  a  nation  drunk  with  the  nectar  of 
Messianism.  Through  these  forecasts  Pal- 
estine, in  Jesus's  day,  was  saturated  with 
the  Messianic  expectation.  Jesus  was 
brought  up  upon  it  and  responded  to  its  call, 
which  was  the  plan  of  God.  When  he 
opened  his  Messianic  career  he  chose  to  read 
and  apply  to  himself  these  words  of  the 
prophet,  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is 
upon  me;  because  the  Lord  hath  anointed 
me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the  meek; 
he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken- 
hearted, to  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives, 
and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them  that 
are  bound;  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord"  (Isa.  61.  1,  2) .  "To-day  hath 
this  scripture  been  fulfilled  in  your  ears," 
declared  at  length  the  voice  of  Jesus,  the 
incarnate  idea  of  prophetic  ideal  as  men  be- 
held the  Only  Begotten  of  the  Father  (Luke 
4.  21). 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  217 

APOCALYPTIC  DEVICES 

In  the  next  place,  to  gain  a  proper  esti- 
mate of  this  type  of  apocalyptic  prophecy 
the  modern  reader  needs  to  understand  its 
literary  devices,  underlying  spirit,  and 
forms  of  symbolism. 

In  the  first  place  it  was  probably  never 
intended  as  a  direct  prediction  for  our  day. 
Those  prophecy  hunters  who  now  seek  for 
signs  of  fulfillment  of  ancient  apocalypses, 
supposing  that  Daniel  or  any  other  ancient 
worthy  were  speaking  of  modern  times  in 
exact  terms  of  history,  are  sadly  on  the 
wrong  track  and  always  run  into  blind 
alleys.  For  two  thousand  years  now  their 
"signs,"  "prophecies,"  "expectations,"  and 
"set  days  of  fulfillment"  have  failed  miser- 
ably. Yet  with  each  generation  new  guesses 
are  made,  no  doubt  doomed  to  like  failure. 

APOCALYPTIC  CONSOLATION 

The  spirit  animating  the  prophetic 
apocalypses  is  that  of  comfort  for  troubled 
Jews  who  suffered  persecutions  for  their 
faith.  The  writer  hoped  thus  to  kindle  faith 


218  THE  PROPHETS 

and  enable  the  tired  souls  to  hold  on  to  their 
religion  in  the  face  of  the  rack.  The  Apoc- 
alypses of  Daniel  are  generally  believed  by 
scholars  to  have  been  produced  by  unknown 
writers  about  B.  C.  165,  during  the  persecu- 
tions of  the  Jews  at  the  hands  of  the  insane 
Antiochus  Epiphanes — produced  in  the 
hope  of  maintaining  fidelity  to  Jewish  faith. 
Therefore  the  first  six  chapters  are  written 
exhortations  in  the  form  of  vivid  presenta- 
tions of  real  and  important  religious  truths, 
"Trust  God  and  he  will  keep  you."  The 
last  six  chapters  seem  to  say,  "Endure  per- 
secution, for  your  tormentors  will  come  to 
grief  and  the  righteous  will  be  vindicated  in 
the  end."  The  lodgment  of  the  sacred  ideas 
was  everything,  the  mode  of  expression  had 
no  independent  value  and  much  less  present 
application  in  details. 

APOCALYPTIC  SYMBOLISM 

The  symbolism  of  this  form  of  literature 
is  unique.  Symbolic  terms  were  freely  used 
which  had  meanings  known  only  to  the  in- 
structed, so  that  the  Jews'  enemies  could 
make  nothing  of  them  when  they  fell  into 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  219 

their  hands;  for  predictions  of  destructions 
of  the  enemy  empire,  if  understood,  was 
treason,  hence  death  to  author  or  possessor. 
They  were  a  kind  of  sacred  secret  code  in 
vogue  during  the  later  centuries  of  Judaism. 
The  most  commonly  used  symbols  and 
their  meanings  may  be  noted  in  passing: 
"abomination  that  maketh  desolate"  (Dan. 
12.  11)  had  reference  to  Antiochus's  pollu- 
tion of  the  altar  of  burnt  offerings  by  the 
sacrifice  of  swine  thereon.  This  phrase  had 
no  reference  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
as  some  exegetical  triflers  invent.  "The  time 
of  the  end"  (Dan.  11.  35)  meant  the  end  of 
Antiochus's  persecuting  reign  and  not  the 
end  of  the  world,  as  some  modern  ex- 
pounders vainly  imagine;  "sealed  up"  (12. 
9)  was  an  expression  for  veiled  predictions. 
Divine  "horses"  (Zech.  1.  8)  symbolized 
divine  mission;  "four  horns"  (1.  18)  sym- 
bolized worldly  powers  opposing  Israel; 
"golden  candlesticks"  (ch.  4)  symbolized 
restored  Israel;  "winds  of  heaven"  stood  for 
strife  (Dan.  7.  2) ;  "lion"  meant  strength 
7.  4) ;  "bear"  signalized  devouring  greed  of 
the  enemy  falling  upon  his  victim  (7.  5) ;  the 


220  THE  PROPHETS 

"four*  beasts"  so  often  repeated  no  doubt 
reflected  the  leading  political  empires  whose 
hands  lay  heavily  upon  Israel  (7.  9).  Thus 
the  literal  was  symbolized  and  the  symbolic 
liberalized  in  order  to  keep  up  the  faith  of 
the  devout  in  times  of  trial  and  to  vindicate 
the  ways  of  God,  who  could  control  national 
destinies  for  the  faithful's  final  good. 

What  good  can  these  apocalyptic  predic- 
tions serve  in  our  time?  Surely  not  as 
modern  history  unfolded  in  detail  to  ancient 
prophet,  but,  rather,  as  revealing  to  us  the 
true  spirit,  the  adequate  faith,  the  sound 
.ideas  needed  now  in  the  fight  against  evil. 
[The  predictions  are  not  as  marvelous  as  the 
prophetic  life  which  clung  unwaveringly  to 
God  and  banked  on  the  certainty  of  his 
goodness,  justice,  and  mercy.  A  faith  that 
can  trust  God  in  the  dark  is  better  than 
assurance  of  perpetual  daylight.  The  hope 
that  sustains  the  believer  in  the  hour  of  per- 
secution is  more  to  be  coveted  than  exact 
knowledge  of  events  of  centuries  unborn. 
It  is  a  misplaced  zeal  and  a  barren  exegesis 
which  attempts  to  read  modern  events  as 
minutely  foretold  by  ancient  seers. 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  221 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  PROPHETS  AND  THEIR 
PERMANENCE 

THE  great  German  poet  Goethe  paid 
this  glowing  tribute  to  the  Bible:  "The  great 
veneration  which  the  Bible  has  received  from 
so  many  people  and  generations  of  earth  is 
due  to  its  intrinsic  worth.  .  .  .  The  higher 
the  centuries  rise  in  culture,  the  more  will 
the  Bible  be  made  use  of  by  all  who  are  not 
wise  in  their  own  conceits,  but  truly  wise." 
The  "intrinsic  worth"  of  the  Old  Testament, 
one  might  almost  say,  is  comprised  in  the 
words  of  the  prophets.  At  any  rate,  the 
high-water  mark  of  Old  Testament  revela- 
tion is  recorded  in  prophecy.  While  we 
have  seen  that  not  every  word  of  every 
prophet  is  permanent,  the  great  ideas 
enunciated  by  them  are.  Whenever  and 
wherever  a  great  truth  is  declared  in  any 
corner  of  the  world,  it  tends  to  abide.  But 
when  a  man  freely  gives  himself  in  its  estab- 


222  THE  PROPHETS 

lishment,  it  gains  common  credence,  if  not 
ready  obedience.  The  prophets'  writings 
are  saturated  with  moral  and  spiritual 
worth.  Sound  morals  and  sound  religion 
such  as  theirs  will  not  perish  from  the  earth. 
Like  axioms  in  geometry,  they  abide.  They 
sounded  the  cardinal  needs  of  man,  and 
man's  intrinsic  needs  have  not  greatly 
changed  with  time  and  culture.  Wherein, 
then,  consists  the  abiding  worth  of  prophecy? 

THE  PERMANENCE  OF  MORAL  ACTION 

First  of  all,  the  prophets  to  a  man  raised 
morality  above  ceremony.  "I  hate,  I  despise 
your  feast  days,"  protested  Amos,  "and  I 
will  not  smell  in  your  solemn  assemblies, 
.  .  .  neither  will  I  regard  the  peace  offer- 
ings of  your  fat  beasts"  (Amos  5.  21,  23) ; 
"For  I  desired  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice ;  and 
the  knowledge  of  God  more  than  burnt 
offerings,"  sobbed  Hosea  (Hos.  6.  6). 
"Bring  no  more  vain  oblations;  incense  is  an 
abomination  unto  me,"  rang  out  the  silver 
tones  of  Isaiah.  "Cease  to  do  evil;  learn  to 
do  well"  (Isa.  1.  13,  17).  "For  I  spake 
not  unto  your  fathers,"  said  Jeremiah,  "con- 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  223 

earning  burnt  offerings  or  sacrifices;  but 
this  thing  commanded  I  them,  saying,  Obey 
my  voice"  (Jer.  7.  22,  23).  "Offer  unto 
the  Lord  an  offering  in  righteousness,"  said 
Malachi,  one  of  the  late  prophets  (Mai.  3. 
3).  It  will  remain  forever  true  that  right- 
eous conduct  is  of  more  consequence  than 
right  ceremony.  In  every  age  the  subtle 
temptation  lies  before  man  to  make  going 
to  church  a  substitute  for  going  right,  and 
to  let  creed  substitute  deed.  As  the  pro- 
verbial Chinaman  observed  about  the  Sun- 
day school:  "It's  all  talky  talky  and  no 
walky  walky."  Holy  worship  should  in- 
spire holy  conduct.  This  prophetic  note 
needs  sounding  afresh  to  each  generation. 
The  basis  of  divine  dealing  with  man  is 
ethical,  not  ritual;  universal,  not  local;  prac- 
tical, not  theoretical. 

THE  PERMANENCE  OF  A  DOMINATING  IDEAL 

In  the  next  place,  the  prophets'  teaching 
of  a  supreme  ethical  and  personal  God,  over 
all  and  through  all,  has  never  been  sur- 
passed. Monotheism  as  a  creed,  theism  as  a 
philosophy,  and  Divine  Providence  as  a  per- 


224  THE  PROPHETS 

sonal  faith  are  permanent  gains  to  humanity 
from  prophecy.  The  modern  social  em- 
phasis must  be  grounded  in  such  a  faith  or 
sink  with  its  own  weight.  Enthusiasm  for 
social  reform  must  be  fed  at  some  smoking 
Sinai  where  God  flames  forth  in  personal 
power,  personal  law,  and  personal  love.  All 
social  endeavors  rest  back  on  the  theory  that 
man  is  of  supreme  worth,  therefore  worth 
any  effort  in  his  behalf. 

THE  PERMANENCE  OF  THE  REIGN  OF  LAW 

Again,  the  prophets  spake  permanently 
when  they  insisted  on  the  majesty  of  law 
and  the  sanctity  of  obedience  thereto. 
Indeed,  their  great  word  was  "righteous- 
ness." "God  is  righteous,  and  he  demands 
righteousness  for  his  people."  "To  obey  is 
better  than  sacrifice,"  was  said  as  early  as 
in  Samuel's  time  (1  Sam.  15.  22).  This 
principle  makes  a  permanent  demand  upon 
mankind.  Just  now  we  almost  worship  at 
the  shrine  of  natural  law.  But  moral  and 
spiritual  law  is  no  less  exacting  than  natural 
law.  Modern  psychology  has  shown  us  the 
law  of  psychic  action.  That  no  experience 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  225 

is  ever  lost  to  the  soul  is  a  fundamental  law 
of  psychology.  Life  is  governed  by  its  own 
inner  demands.  Society  is  ruled  by  social 
forces  which  react  upon  the  soul.  History 
is  marching  to  the  command  of  gripping 
ideas.  We  now  seek  the  oracles  of  science 
for  the  deliverance  of  botH  physical  and 
psychical  demands.  The  laws  of  God  stand 
fast;  the  ways  of  Providence  abide.  The 
reign  of  law  is  the  rule  of  God.  Obedience 
is  life's  first  demand. 

PERMANENCE  OF   COMMANDING  MASTERY 
IN  CRISES 

The  prophets  faced  every  national  crisis 
with  a  commanding  mastery.  A  crisis  is  a 
time  when  human  values,  regarded  to  have 
been  permanent  and  steadfast,  have  sud- 
denly become  disturbed,  given  way,  been 
thrown  into  a  turmoil,  so  that  no  one  knows 
what  to  do  next.  We  are  passing  through 
such  a  crisis  now.  All  is  problematic ;  every- 
one is  guessing;  some  are  trusting,  a  few 
others  are  speculating,  and  not  a  few  are 
disheartened.  This  is  the  time  for  the 
prophet.  He  knows  what  to  do,  for  religion 


226  THE  PROPHETS 

is  the  only  force  which  is  capable  of  restor- 
ing confidence  in  the  hour  of  uncertainty,  of 
placing  men's  feet  upon  the  eternal  founda- 
tions. He,  with  his  religious  assurance,  re- 
minds us  of  the  fact  that  there  is  soundness 
at  the  world's  center;  that  God  lives,  loves, 
and  lords  the  world ;  that  truth  is  invincible ; 
that  a  brighter  day  is  coming;  that  good- 
ness is  winging  its  way  to  the  goal ;  and  that 
God  cares  for  his  earthly  bewildered  chil- 
dren. The  man  who  religiously  feels  the 
pressure  of  a  firm  hand,  and  drinks  in  the 
breath  of  the  unseen  world,  and  views  events 
on  God's  sweeping  horizon,  is  alone  in  a 
position  to  pilot  us  through  the  crisis. 

PERMANENCE  ROOTED  IN  THE  IMPERFECT 

The  roots  of  the  present  are  only  to  be 
found  in  the  past;  the  stream  of  the  ages 
has  left  its  rich  silt  on  modern  soil;  the 
light  of  centuries  floods  our  own  age.  We 
are  debtors  to  all  the  past.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  blood  of  our  own  beastly  ances- 
tors runs  in  our  curdling  veins,  and  that 
when  you  scratch  the  surface  veneer  of  the 
modern  man  the  savage  with  paint  and 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  227 

cudgel  appears.  It  may  also  be  said  that 
the  blood  of  martyrs,  prophets,  and  re- 
formers throbs  in  our  arteries  when  calls  of 
the  heroic  are  made.  The  plan  of  God  has 
long  been  in  the  making.  The  age-long  his- 
tory of  the  Jews  marks  the  grades  in  the 
divine  school  from  the  simple  Adam  to  the 
saintly  Christ.  Living  as  we  do  in  the  white 
light  of  the  twentieth-century  Christianity, 
how  else  shall  we  understand  the  Old  Testa- 
ment saints  with  many  wives,  slaves,  blood 
revenge,  religious  intolerance,  and  poly- 
theistic conceptions?  When  it  is  remem- 
bered that  the  past  was  the  clearing  house 
for  the  present  and  that  the  ancient  worth 
became  modern  good,  we  will  not  be  scan- 
dalized by  the  standards  of  early  Jewish 
saints.  The  early  prophets  succeeded  the 
early  patriarchs.  Moses,  the  prophet,  was 
better  than  Methuselah,  the  old  patriarch; 
and  the  "latter  prophets"  were  better  than 
the  "former  prophets."  Amos  was  better 
than  Aaron,  and  Jeremiah  was  better  than 
Samuel. 

The  meaning  of  the  above  is  simply  this, 
that  the  prophet  fell  upon  a  sound  principle 


228  THE  PROPHETS 

when  he  appealed  to  the  good  and  true  con- 
tained in  the  past,  which  he  used  for  pres- 
ent needs  in  the  solution  of  new  problems. 
The  Bible  supplies  a  rule  that  is  constantly 
improving  upon  itself,  and  the  later  edi- 
tions are  intended  to  antiquate  the  earlier. 
(Heb.  1.  1-2;  Matt.  5.  21-22).  But  we 
must  not  sin  against  the  Bible  by  reversing 
the  order  and  read  back  into  the  Old  Testa- 
ment the  standards  of  the  New,  or  wrong 
the  Old  Testament  saints  by  thrusting  back 
the  ethics  of  Jesus  upon  them.  That  is  a 
burden  too  grievous  to  bear.  In  our  pres- 
ent shameful  world  war  we  may  well  profit 
by  reading  the  past  history  of  warring  na- 
tions. We  would  not,  however,  want  the 
thirtieth-century  historian  to  measure  us  by 
his  light. 

It  is,  then,  a  permanent  good  to  read  the 
past  into  the  present,  for  permanence  is  hid 
in  the  imperfect,  but  it  is  vicious  to  reverse 
the  process  and  read  the  present  in  the  past. 
By  the  latter,  we  misjudge  the  past  and  mis- 
interpret the  future. 

Was  the  prophets'  world  a  strange  and 
far-away  world?  Was  it  vastly  different 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  229 

from  ours?  Yes,  in  many  things  it  was  far 
removed  from  our  own  world.  Neverthe- 
less, in  its  simple  needs  of  reverent,  honest, 
and  sympathetic  life  it  differed  nothing  from 
our  own  age.  The  yearning,  burning  souls 
of  prophets  which  then  found  speech  effec- 
tive in  calling  men  to  the  requirements  of 
God  are  needed  now.  The  speech  of  God 
in  the  mouths  of  preacher-prophets  is  a 
permanent  need.  Therefore  the  pulpit  will 
not  be  crowded  out  by  the  stage,  the  Bible 
will  not  be  smothered  beneath  magazines, 
and  the  preacher  will  not  be  silenced  by  the 
actor.  God  has  made  preaching  permanent. 
The  living  voice  is  a  permanent  necessity. 

PERMANENCE  IN  FACING  FACTS  AS  THEY 
ARE 

Modern,  like  ancient  seers,  are  frankly 
facing  the  facts  and  prescribing  cures.  "Our 
America,"  writes  Dr.  George  A.  Coe  of 
her  church  life,  "is  the  scene  of  a  warfare 
of  the  spirit.  .  .  .  The  audible  voices  of  re- 
ligion are  not  one  but  many;  we  have  not 
a  church  but  churches,  and  these  are  con- 
trary, the  one  to  the  other."  Dr.  Newell 


230  THE  PROPHETS 

Dwight  Hillis  has  penned  this  in  one  of  his 
recent  books:  "The  human  soul  is  vastly 
more  important  than  anything  else  in  the 
world,  and  you  get  its  history  in  the  novel. 
...  To  me  humanity  is  the  finest  of  all 
studies  and  subjects." 

The  famous  Dr.  George  A.  Gordon,  of 
Boston,  soberly  comments  on  this  "hu- 
manity," that  "man's  inhumanity  to  man"  is 
as  yet  civilization's  unblushing  crime. 
Rudolf  Eucken,  the  present  preacher-phi- 
losopher of  the  world,  looks  into  the  pal- 
pitating heart  of  our  modern  life  and  reads 
the  inscription  thus:  "It  is  an  age  afflicted 
with  immense  contradictions.  It  is  wonder- 
fully great  in  the  mastery  of  and  achieve- 
ments within  the  environing  world;  but,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  deplorably  poor  and 
insincere  in  regard  to  the  problems  of  the 
inner  life  and  the  inner  world.  .  .  .  The  in- 
terests of  the  senses  have  set  the  standard  of 
life.  .  .  .  This  type  of  culture  breeds  a  dis- 
tinctive type  of  man:  the  man  of  restless  in- 
telligence and  refined  sensuality.  He  is 
ready,  adaptable,  and  knows  something 
about  everything,  but  inwardly  he  is  empty, 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  231 

having  no  spiritual  experience  to  draw 
from."  To  diagnose  our  "sick  souls,"  as 
William  James  would  say,  is  our  first  duty ; 
to  prescribe  the  remedy  the  next ;  and  finally 
to  provide  spiritual  nurses  possessed  of 
"healthy  mindedness"  to  restore  us  to  spirit- 
ual health. 

THE  PERMANENCE  OF  SIMPLE  TRUTH 

The  prophets  preached  a  return  to  the 
simple,  sound  realities  of  life.  A  study  of 
the  prophets  tends  to  lead  one  away  from 
the  confused,  unnatural,  and  artificial  de- 
mands of  life  and  toward  the  things  which 
are  simple,  genuine,  and  fundamental.  The 
prophet  plumbed  the  depths  of  the  soul  and 
tried  to  fathom  that  which  is  expressive  of 
life  at  its  center.  When  the  priests  tried 
to  smother  life  with  formal  rules,  the 
prophets  tried  to  evoke  the  inner  spiritual 
life.  They  met  the  hunger  of  the  soul  for 
genuineness,  simplicity,  and  truth.  Their 
protests  were  always,  "Do  not  push  God 
aside  by  either  substituting  doctrines  about 
him  or  rituals  to  him;  live  with  God,  let 
the  soul  bask  in  his  light,  drink  in  his  sun- 


232  THE  PROPHETS 

shine,  and  realize  his  presence."  This  is 
the  kernel  of  the  prophetic  thought  about 
the  issue  of  religion. 

One  cannot  undermine  this  view  of  life 
without  endangering  the  foundations  of 
human  nature.  The  prophet's  call  is  to  live 
life  to  the  brim  in  its  normal  possibilities 
as  God  has  given  it,  to  relate  life  socially 
in  simple,  sympathetic  neighborliness,  and 
to  find  God  as  real  as  earthly  friends.  Such 
honest  sincerity  of  life  is  permanent.  Life 
itself  attests  the  prophetic  claim.  Christ 
and  the  Christian  centuries  have  put  the 
stamp  of  permanence  upon  it.  Let  simple 
honesty  be  more  vigorously  preached;  let 
sound  life  be  more  common;  let  the  modern 
Christian  be  more  vigorous  in  practical  liv- 
ing. Thereby  the  power  of  the  church  would 
enlarge. 

How  our  complex  artificial  civilization 
needs  a  call  to  the  simple  habits,  simple  vir- 
tues, simple  dress,  simple  modes  of  life,  even 
simple  faith  in  God!  We  destroy  our 
chances  for  happiness  by  distracting  com- 
plexities ;  we  confuse  life's  purpose  by  sheaf- 
wise  radiations;  we  strain  our  nerves  to  the 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  233 

snapping  point  by  debilitating  amusements ; 
and  we  burn  life's  candle  at  both  ends  by 
infinite,  but  trifling  obligations.  The  cry 
of  Saint  Paul  becomes  us:  "Who  shall  de- 
liver me  from  the  body  of  this  death?" 
(Rom.  7.  24.) 

THE  PERMANENCE  or  READJUSTING  OLD 
INHERITANCES  TO  NEW  NEEDS 

The  prophet  had  no  thought  of  claiming 
permanence  for  his  verbal  utterances.  He 
attempted  rather  to  relate  the  earlier  reli- 
gious revelations  to  the  altered  needs  of  a 
new  day.  He  reconstructed  the  ideas  essen- 
tial in  religion  to  meet  the  living  demands 
of  his  time.  He  ever  rejected  earlier  out- 
worn dogmas.  It  is  widely  recognized  that 
men  of  the  present  time  find  depressing 
difficulties  in  existing  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity. These  seem  often  to  rest  upon 
artificial  claims.  Many  of  our  orthodox 
doctrines  are  reasoned  on  external  and  now 
extinct  presuppositions  which  were  forged 
on  the  anvils  of  mediaeval  workshops. 
Though  they  are  repeated  with  ready  fami- 
liarity, they  fail  to  find  reality  in  modern 


234  THE  PROPHETS 

experience.  They  represent  no  real  ex- 
perience in  our  lives,  because  our  age,  filled 
with  science,  evolution,  and  realism,  has  its 
own  characteristic  type  of  thought  and 
teaching.  Therefore  results  are  not  com- 
mensurate with  equipments.  Christianity 
should  prove  more  vital,  more  gripping, 
more  controlling  in  modern  life.  Our  Chris- 
tian fundamentals  are  so  essential,  so  true, 
so  self-evident  that  we  would  expect  them 
to  be  put  into  actual,  living,  working  prac- 
tice in  our  social  experience  at  once  with- 
out further  persuasion.  This  is  not  the  case, 
however.  Everyone  is  aware  of  the  wide 
gap  existing  between  formal  Christian 
claims  and  commonly  accepted  practice. 
The  shocking  fact  faces  us  that  church 
members  in  "regular  standing,"  even  held 
up  as  "successful  men,"  pray  in  the  church 
and  prey  in  the  market  place  with  the  same 
fervor  and  untroubled  conscience;  falsify 
accounts,  maim  workmen,  starve  girls  into 
immorality,  combine  against  just  claims,  re- 
ceive rents  from  shameful  places,  and  seem 
to  have  utterly  forgotten  human  welfare  and 
social  needs.  "The  damnable  cruelty  of  it 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  235 

all  makes  our  blood  boil."  Obviously,  our 
urgent  task  is  to  understand  our  modern 
life  as  it  really  is,  and  to  find  what  great 
realities  touch  the  daily  life  of  its  preoc- 
cupied men  and  women.  The  old  symbols, 
doctrines,  and  phrases  do  not  move  the 
twentieth-century  man.  Not  because  he  is 
irreligious,  but  because  he  hungers  for  a 
religious  claim  that  shall  seem  to  him  real 
and  gripping.  There  is  a  desire  to  escape 
sin,  but  not  in  the  same  way  nor  for  the 
same  reason  as  the  older  theology  demanded. 
Bunyan  made  his  "Pilgrim"  leave  home  and 
family  to  save  himself  for  the  "celestial 
world."  The  modern  man  would  deem  it  a 
crime  to  do  so.  He  must  be  saved  where 
he  is.  He  feels  the  need  of  escape  from  an 
economic  system  which  makes  profits  con- 
ditioned upon  social  injustice  and  business 
oppressions.  The  modern  man  is  not  saved 
from  his  sins  until  he  faces  about  in  his  own 
factory  and  places  actual  value  upon  per- 
sons immeasurably  above  the  price  of 
property.  Business  men's  attitude  must  be- 
come different.  To  make  "the  indifferent 
different"  is  the  problem. 


236  THE  PROPHETS 

In  order  to  effect  this  change,  religion 
and  rubles  must  be  more  closely  related  so 
that  the  ideals  preached  by  the  church  shall 
find  incarnation  in  the  practice  of  the  shop. 
This  can  be  done  by  making  old  truths  serve 
new  needs. 

Chekhov,  the  short  and  realistic  story 
writer  of  Russia,  has  a  story  to  the  point. 
A  malefactor,  barefooted  before  a  magis- 
trate, is  questioned  thus: 

"Here  it  is — the  nut!  .  .  .  What  were 
you  unscrewing  the  nut  for?" 

"If  I  hadn't  wanted  it,  I  shouldn't  have 
unscrewed  it,"  croaks  Denis. 

"What  did  you  want  that  nut  for?" 

"The  nut?  We  make  weights  out  of 
those  nuts  for  our  lines.  .  .  .  But  can  you  do 
without  a  weight,  your  honor?  If  you  put 
live  bait  or  a  maggot  on  a  hook,  would  it  go 
to  the  bottom  without  a  weight?  .  .  .  What 
the  devil  is  the  use  of  the  worm  if  it  swims 
on  the  surface !  The  perch  and  the  pike  and 
the  eelpout  go  to  the  bottom,  and  a  bait  on 
the  surface  is  only  taken  by  a  shillisper. 
.  .  .  And  there  are  no  shillispers  in  our 
river.  .  .  .  The  silliest  little  boy  would  not 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  237 

try  to  catch  fish  without  a  weight.  Of 
course,  anyone  who  did  not  understand 
might  go  to  fish  without  a  weight.  There  is 
no  rule  for  a  fool"  (The  Witch  and  Other 
Stories,  Chekhov). 

The  practical  ethics  of  Denis  might  be  in 
question,  but  his  reflections  about  fish 
weights  are  sound.  The  church  of  to-day 
might  profit  by  his  reasoning.  We  seem  to 
have  plenty  of  good  bait  on  our  ecclesiastical 
hooks,  but  lack  weights  to  hold  them  down. 
The  "nuts"  are  screwed  on  the  derail  tracks. 
Our  modern  problem  is  not  lack  of  bait. 
We  are  rich  in  religious  inheritance — in  an 
historical  Christianity,  logical  creeds,  orga- 
nized churches,  able  ministers,  rich  laymen, 
liberal  givers,  and  consecrated  leaders.  All 
this  fine  bait  is  too  near  the  surface.  The 
fish  runs  deep.  We  need  to  unscrew  a  few 
"nuts"  for  sinkers.  The  practice  of  re- 
affirming old  reasons  to  justify  permanent 
values  is  to  "fish  without  a  weight." 

When  the  social  structure  and  the  eco- 
nomic pressure  have  cut  new  and  deeper 
channels  in  civilization,  as  is  the  case  to-day, 
the  church  cannot  continue  to  catch  men  of 


238  THE  PROPHETS 

a  deeper-going  need  with  the  old  theological 
bait.  Let  us  unscrew  some  needless  doc- 
trines on  neglected  lines  of  thinking  and 
fasten  them  to  lines  of  practical  angling,  to 
catch  faith-hungry  moderns  who  are  pushed 
into  waters  of  the  present  crisis.  Authorita- 
tive orthodoxy  is  seldom  other  than  arrested 
ecclesiasticism.  It  is  frequently  an  attempt 
to  conserve  the  past  religious  inheritance  in 
mass  when  such  inheritance  has  become  dis- 
tressing in  the  face  of  a  changed  age.  The 
structure  of  civilization  is  shifting  outward 
in  the  direction  of  larger  freedom,  franker 
experience,  finer  religious  realities,  and 
wider  cooperative  action.  Let  us  suit  the 
old  heritage  to  the  new  needs  and  sink  our 
Christian  bait  into  the  intellectual  and  ac- 
tual depths  where  the  stream  of  modern  life 
flows. 

THE  PERMANENCE  OF  SELF-COMMUNICAT- 
ING PROVIDENCE 

There  is  permanence  in  the  view  of  the 
prophets  that  God  communicated  his  in- 
finite will  to  man.  God  spake  and  God 
speaks.  The  prophet  spake  convincingly 


IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  TO-DAY  239 

out  of  his  living  experience  the  truths  of 
God.  The  priest,  on  the  other  hand,  ap- 
pealed to  the  written  page,  the  inscribed 
law,  the  posted  ordinance.  He  was  bound 
to  a  dead  letter.  The  prophet  depended 
upon  the  quickening  spirit.  Jesus,  our 
Lord,  sanctioned  the  prophetic  conscious- 
ness of  living  communication  by  the  Holy 
Spirit.  Jesus  assured  his  followers  of  the 
guidance  of  the  self -communicating  pres- 
ence who  should  lead  them  into  all  truth 
(John  17).  Is  not  this  a  permanent  belief 
of  the  Christian  Church  which  inspires,  as- 
sures, convinces,  and  consoles  the  children  of 
God's  kingdom?  Let  us  not  suppose  that 
we  can  dispense  with  the  need  of  God's  self- 
communicating  Spirit  in  modern  life.  In 
this  self-satisfied,  matter-stuffed,  pleasure- 
loving,  money-mad  age  a  fresh  fervor  in 
spiritual  reality  is  not  only  a  dire  necessity 
but  a  growing  quest.  Each  age  is  religiously 
re-created  in  terms  of  a  fresh,  personal 
spiritual  awakening,  based  upon  values 
which  have  endured.  The  Hebrew  prophets 
lived  and  spoke  better  than  they  realized. 
We  clasp  hands  with  them  across  the  space 


240  THE  PROPHETS 

of  time  and  take  fresh  courage  and  counsel 
from  them  in  our  present  crisis.  Above  the 
boom  of  bursting  shells  is  heard  the  still 
small  voice,  into  the  blood-drenched  trenches 
shines  the  blazing  sun,  and  over  the  bleed- 
ing world  bends  a  wounded  figure  whisper- 
ing: "Peace,  be  still.  Let  not  your  hearts  be 
troubled.  Believe  in  God." 

The  prophets  knew  themselves  as  true, 
And  so  they  spoke  in  tongues  quite  new ; 
The  way  of  God  they  understood, 
Revealing  it  as  best  they  could. 
What  thus  they  left  on  written  page 
Remains  quite  true  from  age  to  age. 

Spiritual  interests  are  paramount.  "De- 
mocracy itself  stands  or  falls  with  this 
faith." 


930 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  MBRARY 


